The photo shows the Theatre Square in Chernivtsi before the First World War when it was named Elisabethplatz, also known as Fischplatz. The square was first mentioned in 1777 and until the beginning of the 20th c. partly occupied by a military warehouse. It was always used as market square, as shown on the photo, and later named after the Austrian Empress Elizabeth. In 1936 the middle of the square was lowered.
The house to the left is the chamber of commerce of the Bukowina (Handelskammer) built 1908-1910. The theatre building on the right side was opened in 1905. It was designed by the Viennese architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer. It was a house for stage plays and operas for 800 visitors, famous actors and singers from all over Europe performed here. Until 1922 the performances took place mainly in German, then the theatre was violently taken over by a Romanian administration. In 1907 a statue of the poet Friedrich Schiller was put up right in front of the theatre. In 1922 the monument was transfered to the courtyard of the Deutsches Haus (German People’s House) and later disappeared. The monument can be seen on the photo. Nowadays the place is occupied by a statue of the Ukrainian writer Olga Kobyljanska. Helmut Kusdat
