Stjepan Podhorsky

Stjepan Podhorsky (born December 21, 1875 in Zagreb , Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia , † October 13, 1945 in Zagreb, Yugoslavia ) was a Yugoslav architect.

childhood

Stjepan Podhorsky was born in Zagreb in 1875 . After finishing school, Podhorsky decided to become an architect . He successfully completed his basic architectural training in his hometown in 1896 and became a student of the German-born architect Hermann Bollé .

Years of apprenticeship

A first difference of opinion arose between Bollé and Podhorsky regarding the artistic direction of purism applied by Bollé , which he applied to the renewal of the Croatian architectural heritage. In order to control his defiant pupil, Podhorsky received the order in 1901 to help design the Serbian Orthodox monastery Grgeteg , located in Fruška Gora , and to participate in the reconstruction. There was again a difference of opinion between the teacher and his student. Bollé, who was of the opinion that the iconostasis located there should be removed, meets Podhorsky's absolute resistance.

Act

After this incident Podhorsky left his teacher and in 1901/02 initially devoted himself to the renovation of a medieval church in Oštarije near Josipdol , which is consecrated to the "Blessed Virgin Mary". In 1903 Podhorsky continued his architectural training in Vienna with Victor Luntz . He returned to his native city of Zagreb and from 1906 carried out architectural constructions, including the "Villa Heim".

Podhorsky founded the "Croatian Architects Club", which held its first meeting on May 20, 1905, which he also chaired as president until its dissolution. Podhorsky's architectural activity was successful throughout his life. One of his professional high points was the restoration of the “Holy Cross Church” in Križevci in 1910. In this context, there was a dispute with a professional friend Bollés. For Podhorsky they ended with the professorship for architecture at the architectural-technical secondary school, which was chaired at the time by his former teacher Hermann Bollé.

After the First World War he was involved in the construction and restoration of mausoleums and churches. In 1936/37 he built the Franciscan monastery “St. Anton ”, which has been used as a“ theater comedy ”since 1950.

Stjepan Podhorsky died on October 13, 1945 in Zagreb.

Web links

• Biography (Croatian)