The original function of the building
Changes
The beginning of capitalization in Subotica was marked by the construction of tenement haouses and
palaces. One of the most significant examples from the period of classicism was certainly the Hungarian
Magyar Imre house built in 1847. Imre was a resident of Csongrad and lived in Subotica. In the very
center of the city, in a newly formed street, built a one-story tenement palace with three upstairs
apartments and shops for rent on the ground floor. His idea was to build a palace similar to the tenement
palaces in Pest. As Vrb creek flowed down Štrosmajer Street and the street terrain was low and
unfavorable to build, Imre expected that the street would be dry over time. When seeking a building
permit, he demanded that the floors in his house built so that he could store the store’s warehouses
beneath them. His aspiration was only met by an intervention from Buddha. However, his predictions
about the rapid construction of Subotica came to light only forty years later, and Štrosmajer Street was
never dried to the height that Magyar Imre had predicted, and the floors in the Magyar House had to be
lowered a full meter during the 1911-12 renovation. Today, in the former Magyar Imrea rental palace,
there is a Music School.
Description and qualities of the building
The first rental palace built in Subotica, modeled on tenement palaces in major cities in Europe, was the
1847 Imre Magyar palace. Imre Magyar was one of Subotica largest landowners. The facade renovation
project was done by Pal Vadas in 1911, in the style of Munich Art Nouveau, while the facades in the
inner courtyard remained the same as before.
References
Dokumentacija Međuopštinskog zavoda za zaštitu spomenika kulture u Subotici.
Aladžić, V., Vujnović-Prćić, G., Grlica, M., Vaš, G. (1997) Građansko društvo i arhitektura u Subotici
1867-1914. Subotica
Mađar, L. (1986) Najstarija detaljna panorama Subotice. Pro memoria, Subotica, No2, 8
Rudinski, A. (1984) Tri rukopisne karte Subotice iz druge polovine XVIII veka. Subotica, Rukovet 2, 179