Ignác Vojtěch Ullmann (1822-1897)

He was the first of many architects who gave Prague its modern face. He thus began an important phase in the history of Czech architecture, which lasted until the 1930s.

I. V. Ullmann was born on 23 April 1822 in Prague in the family of master carpenter Jakub Ullmann. He was apprenticed to the same trade between 1834 and 1838. His next path led him to the mason's trade, then to study at the Prague Polytechnic and from there to study architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (1842-1847) at the school of architecture of Eduard van der Nüll and August Siccards von Siccardsburg. He was thus the first architect to achieve not only a technical but also an artistic education.

Ullmann designed his first commissions in the spirit of romantic historicism: The Chateau Greenhouse in Bohemia pod Košířem (1853), the reconstruction of mansions for aristocratic clients - Bezděkov, Jirny, Chyše and the construction of the Lann Palace in Hybernská Street in Prague. In 1854 - 1863 he participated in the modifications of the project of the Viennese architect Karl Roesner and the construction of the Church of St. Cyril and Methodius in Prague - Karlín.

An important milestone in his work was the period around 1860, when he reached his mature Neo-Renaissance style. Thanks to his many achievements he became the leading architect of the Czech national society. The first building of strict Neo-Renaissance style was the building of the Czech Savings Bank on Národní třída in Prague. His admiration for this building led to another important commission, the Provisional Theatre (1862). Another monumental project was the Lažanský Palace (1861-63). This was followed in the 1870s by Josef Kittl's tenement house at the corner of Národní and Perlová Streets and the building of the Higher School for Girls in Vodičkova Street (1866-67), decorated with sgraffiti. As a prominent member of the Artists' Meeting, Ullmann was commissioned to restore the Rotunda of the Holy Cross in Prague's Old Town (1866-1867 in collaboration with Josef Mánes).

In 1865, he offered to draw up plans and manage the construction of the National Theatre without remuneration, but his proposal was not accepted. The failure in the competition, which he bore very hard, fundamentally influenced his whole future life. He gradually gave up independent designing. Since the end of the 1960s, he has collaborated with his brother-in-law Antonín Barvitius (Franz Josef Station, Schebek Palace, Lann Villa, Lippmann Villa, Ringhoffer Palace).

Ullmann's last important Prague building is the building of Czech Technology on Charles Square from 1870-75. After the failure of the joint design by Ullmann and Barvitius in the competition for the design of the Rudolfinum, he gave up designing, in 1878 he went to his chateau in Dubenc, where he stayed until 1889, then moved to Příbram. In cooperation with his nephew Bedřich Münzberger, he realized the design of the Neo-Renaissance town hall and savings bank (1891) and then the archbishop's convent (1892).

He died in Příbram in 1897 and was buried in the family tomb in the local cemetery.

Elaborated by: Hana Ročňáková