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 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 a PDF document.
1. Woldemar Bonitz Pastry Shop, Graudu iela 42
2. Merchant G. Meyer residential house and shop, Graudu iela 33
3. Navigation School, Kūrmājas prospekts 3
4. Master painter Adam Bliefert apartment house, Kūrmājas prospekts 8/10
5. Hermann Grabbe apartment building and pharmacy, Kūrmājas prospekts 12
6. Dr. Nisan Katzenelsohn house, Kūrmājas prospekts 16/18 – now Liepāja Museum
7. Stünzi tenement building, Kūrmājas prospekts 15 and 17
8. Bliefert tenement building, Uliha iela 33
9. House of the building contractor Wilhelm Riege, Kūrmājas prospekts 21
10. Export business owner Noy Pines villa, Hika iela 5
11. Georg Dietrich Puchert villa, Evalda Rimbenieka iela 1
12. Liepāja Bathing pavilion, Miķeļa Valtera iela 13
13. Baron Ferdinand von Nolde villa, Hika iela 12
14. Construction company owner Hermann Demme villa, Hika iela 14
15. Wohlheim, later Alfred Seligmann villa, Hika iela 9
16. Engineer Ignatius von Berner house, Liepu iela 9
17. Wilhelm Riege villa, Peldu iela 58-62
18. Lasar Rostowsky villa, Peldu iela 56
19. St. Alexander Nevsky Church, Uliha iela 61
20. Count Henryk Skrimunt villa, Kurzemes iela 9
21. Construction company owner Morduh Gordin apartment house, Peldu iela 31
22. Paul Max Bertschy tenement building, Peldu iela 44
23. Georg Riege apartment building, Toma iela 19
24. Magistrate Plenum building, Republikas iela14
25. Gustav Riege tenement building, Republikas iela 11
26. Nikolai Gymnasium, K. Valdemāra iela 4
27. Wilhelm Riege house, K. Valdemāra iela 14 and 16
28. Johann Adolf Thielitz apartment building, Peldu iela 32/34
29. Paul Max Bertschy family home, Peldu iela 15
30. Regional Court, Rožu iela 6
31. Butcher Ludwig Demme building, Kuršu iela 14
32. Maria’s Shelter for girls, E. Veidenbauma iela 10
33. Project for St. Anna’s Church tower, E. Veidenbauma iela 1
34. Police Headquarters, Rakstvežu iela 7
35. Liepāja School for Girls, Zivju iela 7
36. City Councillor Adolf Andres apartment building, Tirgoņu iela 15
37. District police chief N. von Ramedlow Shopping Mall, Zivju iela 3
38. Burgermeister Karl Alexander Zakowsky building, Zivju iela 5
39. Court advisor K. Meyer building, Kungu iela 20
40. N. von Ramedlow building, Bāriņu iela 26
41. City Prison, Dārza iela14/16
42. H. Martens tenement building, Bāriņu iela 13/15
43. Guild Hall and Bourse Bank, Baznīcas iela 3/5
44. Liepāja branch of the Russian National Bank, Teātra iela 3
45. Liepāja branch of the Rīga Commercial Bank, Lielā iela 10
46. Samuel Salomonowitz building, Pasta iela 4
47. Merchant Johann Karl Schneider house, Lielā iela 3
48. Port workers’ lounge building – Employment Centre, Vecā ostmala 29
49. Warehouses, Kaiju iela 5, 7, 9
50. Export company “Hagen & Soldani” apartment building, Rīgas iela 11
51. City Three-year school, Raiņa iela 5
52. Church of Nazareth Baptist’s parish, Raiņa iela 36
53. “Vicander & Larson” Cork and Linoleum Factory and office building, O. Kalpaka iela 5/9
54. Alfred Kieler Oil Factory, Sliežu iela 4
55. New Liepāja Fire Station, Jelgavas iela 41
56. Wire Manufacturing Factory “Boecker & Co” office building, Brīvības iela 93
57. City Hospital, Jūrmalas iela 2 and Dārtas iela 31
58. Building contractor Wilhelm Riege mausoleum in Barenbusch Cemetery, Cenkones iela 18/20