Early Holy See representation in Kaunas

Marta Engelman started building a two-storey brick house designed by Moisijus Segalovskis in 1911, having bought a parcel of land with the property from its previous owner Antanas Rabašauskas. In 1912, the house was already occupied and rented out. When it was built, the buildings closed off an inner courtyard, which was then accessed via an entry point and a garden. After the declaration of independence in 1919, the house was purchased by Abraham and Ida Kacai, who owned it until the 1940s.

As the city became the capital of the country, several public institutions started setting in surrounding streets. During the reconstruction of K. Donelaitis Street in 1931, the face of the house changed one more, and the last, time. Interestingly, this change was partly, if not entirely, related to the street improvement works. The work involved excavating some of the soil and lowering the street, therefore, the foundations of nearby houses went down as well. Moreover, the walls started to crack, which led to the need for additional reinforcement of the foundations. Furthermore, in 1931, the final adjustments were made to the facades of the house according to a design by B. I. Bloch: the western part of the house was raised (the house became asymmetrical) when a first floor was built up, the staircase doorway was moved down, and an empty space was used to install a skylight.

Conveniently located in the city, the newly renovated house did not escape the eye of the diplomatic missions: from 1928 to 1939, the two second-floor apartments were rented to the Apostolic See or the Vatican Nunciature. Thanks to the splendid state palaces and banks built between the two world wars, today the building looks a little less impressive, but it without a doubt remains an important part of the diplomatic legacy of Kaunas. Dignitaries of the Holy See and the Lithuanian state visited and worked in the building, including representative of the Holy See to Lithuania, Prelate Luigi Faidutti (buried in the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Kaunas), representatives of the government of the Republic of Lithuania, diplomats, and the clergy. In 1931, a modern villa was built on the adjacent V. Putvinskis Street, the first building designed specifically for a diplomatic mission. The Vatican Nunciature was just about to move in with its new envoy Riccardo Bartoloni. Unfortunately, due to a change in political circumstances, the nuncio never moved in, and the building was turned into a children hospital.

What is more, the building is a representative of the moderate modernist style that is a rare thing to find in Kaunas. The facade of the building has been recently renovated, with a darker and rougher sand and lime plaster on the wall planes and lighter coloured detailing. Unfortunately, the fence and vases that crowned a roof have not survived to this day. However, the authentic staircase and doors have been preserved, as well as the original layout of some of the apartments, parquet flooring and windows. In 2007, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Concordat between the Holy See and the Republic of Lithuania, a commemorative plaque was unveiled on the building. The community is currently seeking to have the building added to the list of cultural assets to be protected.

Text by Žilvinas Rinkšelis

 

Sources of information:

Greetings to Rita, the resident of the house for collecting and sharing the information!

Photos by Ž. Rinkšelis, 2020.

A particle of Switzerland in Kaunas

For three hundred years, in the times of modern history, Lithuania and Switzerland have been united by little-known or forgotten ties: a lot of churches, monasteries and palaces in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were built and decorated by talented Swiss architects and sculptors. Among the many buildings designed by them is Pažaislis Monastery in Kaunas. And vice versa, for half a century, from 1895 to 1945, more than one and a half hundred Lithuanian students studied at the University of Friborg. Mainly Lithuanian clergymen, priests and historians.

Once again, close ties were established during the interwar period: in 1922 the Consulate of the Swiss Confederation was established in Kaunas; in the same year, after the establishment of the University of Lithuania (later Vytautas Magnus University), the second wave of Swiss creators and scientists came to our country. One of them, Konstantinas Rėgelis, founded the Kaunas Botanical Garden; Juozas Eretas founded the Lithuanian journalism agency ELTA; Alfred Senn was a Swiss linguist, lexicographer and famous Balticist, and Pranas Brender translated the Lithuanian anthem into Latin.

When Kaunas became the capital, diplomatic missions of various countries were established in the city. Their locations and addresses changed depending on the new, representative buildings emerging in the city. Today, a sign hangs on the house standing on K. Donelaičio Street, marked with the number 45. It marks the place of the Consulate of the Swiss Confederation. It was working here from 1938 to 1940. So, it is a place that embodies both Kaunas modernist architecture and diplomatic history, becoming a part of Switzerland in Kaunas.

Text by Žilvinas Rinkšelis

Photos by Ž. Rinkšelis, 2020.

Do you live in this house? Or do you know the stories associated with it? – Tell us! This assistance is invaluable for Kaunas and Kaunas District as a contemporary European Capital of Culture 2022 and for those who want to know more about it. Let’s share our stories about architecture!

American-style house

A luxury residential house reminiscent of typical semi-detached houses in the major cities of the United States, was built in 1930 by engineer Jonas Andriūnas. The architecture of the building is characterized by an avant-corps in its center, that expands the room on the first two floors of the building, and becoms a loggia and a balcony on the remaining two floors. The main entrance of the building with a staircase is pulled to the side, and a staircase leads towards the front door, “compensating” complicated relief of the house standing on the slope. Another interesting attribute is the extra-large cornice, that separates the third and fourth floors. It is assumed that the fourth floor of the house was built either later than the rest of the house, or the project was adjusted during the construction.

 

Mechanical engineer

Unfortunately, we have little information about the homeowner himself. It should be noted that Jonas Andriūnas studied in Russia. In 1921 he graduated in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) Institute of Civil Engineers. Through his activities and work, Jonas also contributed to the establishment and promotion of the Higher Technical School in Kaunas. He taught construction, and from 1928 to 1936 he was the founder and leader of the school’s practical training workshops. As an engineer, Jonas Andriūnas also contributed to the construction of the Aleksotas funicular. A commission consisting of architect Karolis Reisonas, engineers Napoleonas Dobkevičius, Jonas Andriūnas, Aleksandras Ganfmanas, Aleksandras Mačiūnas and others was appointed to evaluate his equipment.

 

Estonian Embassy

Estonia recognized the state of Lithuania in 1921 and consulate was opened in Kaunas, the temporary capital of Lithuania. Several buildings of Kaunas, including this house, are related to the history of the Estonian Embassy in the city. The Estonian embassy at this address (old address Parodos str. 16) operated until its liquidation in 1940.

The following diplomatic representatives accredited to Lithuania resided in this house: Johan Leppik, Aleksander Warma, Jaan Lattik.

Text by Žilvinas Rinkšelis

Photos by Žilvinas Rinkšelis, 2019.

In this compact house belonging to the physician Nadežda Nagornienė each floor had an apartment for people engaged in private professional practice. The apartments had professional rooms and waiting rooms to which there were separate entries from the staircase. The latter also had service entrances directly to the kitchens. Entry to the house was from a driveway. The attic apartment on the roof had a large terrace spanning the whole width of the house.

This house was built by the famous painter and chairman of the Lithuanian Riflemen association Antanas Žmuidzinavičius. At first it had two floors; but in 1938, a third one was added: there the artist set up his studio. The family lived on the second floor; the first was rented out.

One of the earliest examples of a functionalist aesthetics in Kaunas, this building has a particularly laconic exterior of severe geometricized forms, with a clear delineation of spaces and planes and a distinct rhythm of elements. The kernel of the complicated plan is constituted by original oval-shaped halls. The purpose of the building was manifold: the first and third storeys had two five-room apartments; the second contained not only the owner`s apartment, but private suites in which he practiced internal medicine and Dr. Girša Elkes practiced ophthalmology. In one of the rented apartments the first Montessori kindergarten in Lithuania was established; from 1936 to 1940 the building also housed the Finnish consulate.

Owned by Kazimieras Škėma, a famous lawyer, this house had five floors, which in the interwar years was a rarity. During its construction the owner hat to negotiate hard in order to get its height approved by the municipality`s building commission, since it diverged noticeably from general height level of the structures on V. Putvinskis Street. Each floor contained a five-room apartment. Apartments in this house were rented by the Swedish and Czechoslovak legations. In 1933 on the slope of the courtyard a three-storey auxiliary building was built to house the garage, the drivers` quarters, and glazed orangery on the top floor.

The nunciature was the first and probably only building designed specifically for a legation. The Vatican`s envoy would have enjoyed a good atmosphere here not only for representing and working but also for living and relaxing. The first storey had a chancellery, an office room, a parlor, a dining room, and a “winter garden”, separated by sliding doors. The second storey had sleeping rooms, another office, and a chapel. However, because of internal political troubles the nuncio did not take up residence here. In 1932 the building was accommodated to a children`s hospital.

Photos by L. Mykolaitis and Kaunas artists` house

The building`s architecture was determined by its proximity to the Vytautas the Great Museum; the project`s author , as he himself claimed, sought to create a building that would not compete with the museum but just provide a quiet background reflecting some of its motifs. The main hall for banking operations was on the second floor and took up the entire middle block and rose through two storeys in the rounded part of the avant-corps. A part of the block facing Vienybės Plaza was assigned to the Foreign Ministry.