Str. Episcop Augustin Pacha, 8
1815
Secular buildings
The First Public Library of the Habsburg Monarchy
In 1815, printer and journalist Joseph Klapka, opened the first public library of the Habsburg Monarchy. It was located in a prominent location near Cathedral Square and had a reading room with over 4,000 volumes. Here, for the first time, books were publicly available in various languages, several of which were in Latin, some French, three Hungarian books, with all others being in German.
Klapka also promoted the German municipal theatre and published several newspapers. His reputation and importance in the city were so great that he held the mayor’s office from 1819 to 1833 after which he was elected to the Hungarian legislature as the Member of Parliament for Timisoara.
Today, this historic building houses the Office for Culture and Preservation of Monuments district of Timiş County as well as an art gallery.
Tour sights
- 1. Theresia Bastion
- 2. Lutheran Church
- 3. Union Square
- 4. Saint George’s Cathedral
- 5. Serbian Orthodox Cathedral
- 6. Miksa (Max) Steiner Palace
- 7. Brück House
- 8. Dicasterial Palace
- 9. Klapka Library
- 10. The “Guild Tree”
- 11. St. George's Square
- 12. Prince Eugene House
- 13. Citadel Synagogue
- 14. Liberty Square
- 15. Huniade Castle
- 16. National Opera House
- 17. Victory Square
- 18. Corso
- 19. Orthodox Cathedral
- 20. Piarist Ensemble
- 21. Reformed Church
- 22. Doja Street
- 23. Journey through Time
- 24. Rose Garden
