The most well-known architect of all time in Liepāja, Paul Max Bertschy worked on creating the city’s image for over 30 years and the buildings that have formed his legacy can still be found in the streets of Liepāja.
P. M. Bertschy was born in 1840 in Germany. After moving to Latvia, he first worked in Riga and Daugavpils but moved to Liepāja in 1870 when the mayor of Liepāja Karl Gottlieb Ulich invited him there.
He served as the city’s Chief Architect for 31 years and created a large number of both public and private buildings. The buildings created by Bertschy and his sons continued to define the city’s image until the tragic days of 1941 and 1944 when many of Liepāja’s most beautiful buildings were turned to rubble. Nonetheless, more than 70 of Bertschy’s buildings still adorn the city and many have undergone extensive restoration.
To honour the contribution of Bertschy, plaques with the architect’s own signature have been attached to the buildings he built.
The buildings designed by P. M. Bertschy are mostly built using red bricks or a combination of bricks and plaster, or bricks and stones. By using such a simple construction material as red bricks Bertschy succeeded in endowing the city with an architecturally beautiful image.
Go for a walk and see the beautiful architecture of Liepāja. The map is available in PDF document.
1. St Alexander Nevsky Church, Uliha iela 61
2. House of the building contractor Wilhelm Riege, Kūrmājas prospekts 21
3. Mansion and household house of the building contractor Wilhelm Riege, Peldu iela 58-62
4. Count Henryk Skrimunt villa, Kurzemes iela 9
5. Merchant Johann Karl Schneider house, Lielā iela 3
6. Burgermeister Karl Alexander Zakowsky building, Zivju iela 5
7. City Councillor Adolf Andres apartment building, Tirgoņu iela 15
8. H.Martens tenement building, Bāriņu iela 13/15
9. Master painter Adam Bliefert apartment house, Kūrmājas prospekts 8/10
10. Export company “Hagen & Soldani” apartment building, Rīgas iela 11
11. Construction company owner Morduh Gordin apartment house, Peldu iela 31
12. Butcher Ludwig Demme building, Kuršu iela 14
13. Stünzi tenement building, Kūrmājas prospekts 15 and 17
14. Johann Adolf Thielitz apartment building, Peldu iela 32/34
15. Bliefert tenement building, Uliha iela 33
16. Georg Riege apartment building, Toma iela 19
17. Engineer Ignatius von Berner house, Liepu iela 9
18. Warehouse, Kaiju iela 5, 7, 9
19. Church of Nazareth Baptist’s parish, Raiņa iela 36
20. Merchant G.Meyer residential house and shop, Graudu iela 31/33
21. Georg Dietrich Puchert villa, Evalda Rimbenieka iela 1
22. Wohlheim, later Alfred Seligmann villa, Hika iela 9
23. Export business owner Noy Pines villa, Hika iela 5
24. Baron Ferdinand von Nolde villa, Hika iela 12
25. Construction company owner Hermann Demme villa, Hika iela 14
26. City Hospital, Jūrmalas iela 2 and Dārtas iela 31
27. Maria’s Shelter for girls, Veidenbauma iela 10
28. Navigation School, Kūrmājas prospekts 3
29. Magistrate Plenum building, Republikas iela14
30. City Three-year school, Raiņa iela 5
31. Gustav Riege tenement building, Republikas iela 11
32. Nikolai Gymnasium, K. Valdemāra iela 4
33. New Liepāja Fire Station, Jelgavas iela 41
34. City Prison, Dārza iela14/16
35. Guild Hall and Bourse Bank, Baznīcas iela 3/5
36. District police chief N. Von Ramedlow Shopping Mall, Zivju iela 3
37. Regional Court, Rožu iela 6
38. Police Headquarters, Rakstvežu iela 7
39. Woldemar Bonitz Pastry Shop, Graudu iela 42
40. Liepāja branch of the Rīga Commercial Bank, Lielā iela 10
41. Liepāja branch of the Russian National Bank, Teātra iela 3
42. Port workers’ lounge building – Employment Centre, Vecā ostmala 29
43. Liepāja Bathing pavilion, Peldu iela 59
44. Project for St. Anna’s Church tower, E. Veidenbauma iela 1
45. Wilhelm Riege house, K. Valdemāra iela 14 and 16
46. P. M. Bertschy family home, Peldu iela 15
47. Samuel Salomonowitz building, Pasta iela 4
48. Hermann Grabbe apartment building and pharmacy, Kūrmājas prospekts 12
49. Paul Max Bertschy tenement building, Peldu ielaa 44
50. “Vicander & Larson” Cork and Linoleum
Factory and office building, O. Kalpaka iela 6
51. Wire Manufacturing Factory “Boecker & Co” office building, Brīvības iela 93
52. Building contractor Wilhelm Riege mausoleum in Barenbusch Cemetery, Cenkones iela 18/20
53. Alfred Kieler Oil Factory, Sliežu iela 4
54. Dr. Nisan Katzenelsohn house, Kūrmājas prospekts 16/18
55. Liepāja School for Girls, Zivju iela 7