Miksa (Max) Steiner Palace

Some of the baroque buildings on Cathedral Square have been altered over time and adapted to the architectural taste of later eras. Thus, at the beginning of the 20th century, two palaces were built in Art Nouveau style, which had become fashionable in various European cities at the time, the Viennese variant of which is referred to as “Secession style”. It is not surprising that this style, affectionately called “Little Vienna”, was frequently adopted in Timisoara. Let’s take a closer look at two of these art nouveau masterpieces, located in Cathedral Square, and observe their special features.

On the south side of the square, on the corner of Gheorge Lazăr Street, is the Miksa (Max) Steiner Palace, named after its builder and owner, a Jewish entrepreneur. Miksa Steiner was a founding shareholder of the Discount Bank, whose headquarters were located on the ground floor of the two-storey apartment building.

The creators of this art nouveau jewel were the well-known Budapest architects Marcell Komor and Dezsö Jakab. With its asymmetrical shape, wavy façade with rounded corners, blue faience ornaments and wrought-iron railings and bars, the palace itself, is a masterful work of art. The high-quality ceramics on the façade, which are now decorated in light blue tones, originate from the Hungarian porcelain manufacturer Zsolnay and Umraht. It depicts a beehive in the shape of a flower or heart, a symbol of hard work and prosperity, as well as a play on the bank’s ground floor location. Because of the rounded and wavy shaped elements on the façade, the Miksa Steiner Palace could be perceived as a forerunner of Antoni Gaudi’s buildings. The fine decorations, with their intricate latticework, have earned the delicate palace of the lye manufacturer Miksa Steiner the nickname “Zuckerbäckerhaus”.