An architect from Subotica, Ferenc Raichle (Apatin, 1869 – Budapest, 1960) built his family palace on one of the most beautiful locations in the town: opposite to the railway station, along the Park Queen Elizabeth. This masterpiece of the artist and of art nouveau architecture in Vojvodina was built in 1904, with elements of Hungarian Art Nouveau. The palace has a wide range of art nouveau elements, gorgeous colours and forms – Zsolnay ceramics, gilded mosaics, wooden peek-windows, wrought iron railing and stained glass, floral designs and motifs of hearts, oriental forms of windows etc. On the ground floor, in addition to a spacious hall and staircase, there were the utility rooms, rooms for servants and for rent, as well as Raichle’s architectural bureau oriented towards the courtyard. On the first floor, there were the dining-room with a winter garden – which also functioned as a ballroom, and the men’s smoking-room, the Turkish Room, equipped with so-called Turkish furniture and objects from Raichle’s jorneys, as well as with some paintings of Raichle’s cousin, painter Ferenc Eisenhut. Behind that room, there followed: the billiard-room, the music-room and the women’s lounge, a huge bedroom, the bathroom, the children’s room and a small room near the elevator for intimate breakfasts. The Raichles lived here until 1906 because the designer went bankrupt, and the interior items were sold off on an auction (1908). After the Second World War, the Municipal Museum had been placed in Raichle’s palace, while it has been the home of the Modern Art Gallery since 1967.
(Olga K. Ninkov)
Bibliography:
Martinović Cvijin, Kata (2002): Subotički opus Ferenca J. Rajhla – Raichle J. Ferenc szabadkai alkotásai. In: Krstić, Boško (ed.): Secesija u Subotici – Szecesszió Szabadkán. Književna zajednica, Subotica – Kijárat Kiadó, Budapest, 2002, 76–103.