Eduard Till was an entrepreneur and heir of a hardware store on náměstí Svobody. After purchasing a plot of land made vacant by the demolition of several older buildings during the Brno clearance, Till hired Max Matzenauer to draft plans for a new building on the site. It proved to be one of Matzenauer’s most monumental works in Brno.
While the facades on Zámečnická and Veselá Streets are rather reserved in design, each with two vertical oriels and a massive cornice, the corner facing Dominikánské náměstí is of truly imperial proportions. The ground floor and first floor are articulated by stylized banded rustication, while the upper floors combine open areas with an accumulation of Neo-Baroque balconies with stone balustrades. This entire composition culminates in a monumental corner turret with a cupola that also served as a viewing tower. On the corner and above the oriels, attics lined with vases rise above the cornice. The delicate facade decoration consists of Matzenauer’s favourite aquatic motifs in the form of fish heads and seashells. The building still serves its original purpose, with several commercial establishments on the ground floor and residential apartments on the upper floors.
Martin Koplík
