The house is located on the territory of the former Meringa estate (at one time it was called “Kiev Paris”, since after the construction of the estate such famous buildings appeared here as: house with chimeras, Ivan Franko Theater, as well as theaters, circuses, hotels and apartment buildings that were destroyed during the Great Patriotic War). In 1895, the heirs of the doctor and professor Friedrich Mehring sold it to the Kyiv housing construction joint-stock company for the astronomical sum of 1,800,000 rubles.
Over the course of 8 years, the estate was built with 5 and 6 storey apartment buildings in Art Nouveau, Neo-Renaissance, Neo-Baroque and Neo-Gothic styles. The area turned into an architecturally outstanding residential area, where famous and wealthy Kiev residents lived. In 1901-1903, on Nikolaevskaya Street (now Gorodetsky), by order of the Prussian baron Wilhelm Hesselbein, an apartment building in the Art Nouveau style was erected. The architects are not known for certain. There is an assumption that the house project was prepared by the architects Eduard-Ferdinand Bradtman (Franco Theater, Kiev Conservatory, house of the weeping widow) and Georgy Shleifer (Brodsky Synagogue, Shleifer Mansion). The construction work was carried out by the office of Y. Faybishenko.
After the establishment of Soviet power in Kyiv, the house was nationalized and communal apartments were set up for workers and employees. In 1941, during the retreat of the Red Army from the city, the building was seriously damaged as a result of the “September explosion,” when many buildings in the center of Kyiv were destroyed. Baron Hesselbein’s house was restored in 1948, but the time of reconstruction on the facade indicated an erroneous construction date – 1886, which was later included in the order of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine.
Where is Baron Hesselbein’s house?
Architect Gorodetsky Street, 15