This early photo shows two houses on the western side of the Ringplatz (after the Polish “Rynek”) in Chernivtsi, called Piata Unirii in the Romanian times, Red Square in Soviet times and Central Square today.<br />

The buildings already represent the second generatation of houses, built in the second half of the 19th c. The one on the left was an appartment building with some shops on the ground floor. In 1901 it already had received a more “modern” facade in the style of the Viennese Gründerzeit (Age of foundation). The photo must have been taken before then. <br />

The house shown on the right side of the photo was the Hotel Zum Schwarzen Adler (Under the Black Eagle), the best hotel in town during the times of the Austrian rule. It already existed in 1875. Today it is used by a university.<br /><em>Helmut Kusdat</em>