1929 Business Directory

LW'OW CITY

Descriptive Statement from the 1929 Polish Business Directory (partial)

The former capital of Galicia, after Warsaw and Lódz, is the largest Polish city and constitutes an economic and cultural center of the southeast districts and provinces of the Polish Commonwealth. Established in the thirteenth century, Lwów suffered like no other city from frequent sieges and fires. The valor and patriotism of the inhabitants who resisted these attacks, earned the city the glorious nickname "Leopolis semper fidelis" (Leapol Always Faithful or True). The Great War (World War I) was, for Lwów, a severe blow. Constant battles, which raged in its vicinity and sometimes in its streets, left it exhausted and partially devastated. Despite this and thanks to the energy and enterprise of its inhabitants, Lwów was not only rebuilt quickly after the destruction of the war, but took its place as one of the principal centers of Polish commerce, becoming the site of the large scale annual Oriental Fair. Today's Lwów has a distinctly modern character boasting superb buildings constructed when Lwów was the capital of an autonomous Galicia. The city has also conserved numerous beautiful monuments from the Renaissance, Rococo, and older periods. Rich collections of art works are exhibited in numerous museums and galleries. Amongst the architectural treasures, those which deserve mention are the Dominican church and the Orthodox church of St. George, which belong to the best Rococo examples in Poland, the Boims chapel, the Valacque church, many large stone houses from the Renaissance period, the Gothic catholic cathedral and finally the fourteenth century Armenian cathedral. Many large gardens and parks give the city a picturesque character, among others the Kilinski park is one of Europe's finest public parks. The city is beautifully located, being in the Peltawa valley, surrounded by hills. The High Castle, built on a 150 meters high hill with a mound to commemorate the Lublin Union, dominates the city. Lwów, the administrative center of the Peltawa province, 289 meters above sea level, occupies an area of 3,223 hectares and numbers 238,303 inhabitants.

OBJECTIVE

The database was created by copying the information contained in the Lviv City portion of the 1929 Polish Business Directory. The primary, and foremost objective, is to create a searchable database of surnames and related data. It is important to be aware that the spellings of surnames and business types in 1929 may differ from those that are in use today. All of the accent marks were excluded to expedite the data input. Also, keep in mind that with the large amount of data entered, there could be typographical errors. In addition, as with current directories, a business could be listed under multiple headings. The 12,548 surnames and or business names listed represent only a portion of the business activity in the city of Lviv. Excluded, and unaccountable for, are the street businesses located in open-air markets and door-to-door peddlers. Also intentionally excluded, are all of the Municipal and Governmental Offices, Social Clubs, Unions, Associations, Schools, etc.

DATA DEFINITIONS

The data is sorted by Surname/Business name and includes the following columnar information:

Surname/Business name
Includes Surnames, Business owner's surname if other than the Business name, or the name given to the business. Separate line items were created so that all partners in a partnership could be represented. Surnames and businesses with multiple locations were given separate line items.

Given Name

wl-Wlascicel
Annotation indicates that the surname that appears in the Surname/Business name column is the owner of the business. The name given to the business appears in the column labeled Firm/Business/Partnership.

Address

Business type-English

Business type-Polish

Firm/Business/Partnership
This column has multiple functions:

An "X " designator is used when the business name in the Surname/Business name column is considered to be a Firm.
Partner relationship
Business name for the Business owners (wl notation) included in the Surname/Business name column

In some cases the partnership or the business name listed in this column could also be a firm.
I have taken the position that it is more important to show the partner relationship and not
enter the "X" designation for these occurrences.

VOLUNTEERS

This work could not be accomplished without the diligent efforts of the following individuals:

Eva Bednarska, Dr.: In Memory of the Kleiner & Zigman family of Lwów
Blanka Eckstein (Lifschultz): In Memory of Zygmond Lifschutz family of Brody & Aron Schwartzwald Family of Radziechow
Mirian Ferber
Lilian Schorr Landes: In Memory of Eisig & Leja Landes née Bass & Benzion & Beila Schorr née Mischel
Igo Licht: In memory of Edward Licht & the Licht family of Lwow
Uri Madpis: In Memory of Dr. Abraham(Adolf) Pinkus & Fanny Deiches
Marcia Indianer Meyers
Elaine Sacks (Sacharny): In Memory of Samuel & Shirley Gladstone Sacks (Sacharny)
Errol Schneegurt: In Memory of Rosea Leonora Finel (Jaroslauer)
Renee Glattstein Stevens: In Memory of Zygmund, Leona, Felicia, & Georg Glattstein
Heidi Urich: In Memory of The Urich Family of Lwów
George Winston: In Memory of Eugene & Anna Weinberg

Coordinated and Donated by Errol Schneegurt and Elaine Sacks Schneegurt

(LEOPOLIS, LEMBERG, LWÓW)

and surrounding areas