In 1908–1911 in the newly emerging Černá Pole neighbourhood, a nearly contiguous row of apartment buildings was constructed on the even-numbered side of Merhautova Street (Senefelderova in 1907–1919), interrupted only by a short lane – today’s Slepá Street (then Promberova). Many of these seventeen houses were built by the German-speaking Brno builder Friedrich Wilhelm Schmeer in collaboration with the architect Vladimír Fischer. It can be assumed that Fischer’s creative contribution mainly involved the designs for the facades, as it was common practice at the time for construction companies to entrust this task to private architects. Schmeer and Fisher were long-time collaborators, and it is quite likely that they both contributed to the buildings’ final form.
Construction proceeded in stages, beginning in 1908 with two double houses at the upper end of Merhautova – nos. 8–10 and 12–14. The most active period of construction was in 1909, when Merhautova 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 40 and 42 and Slepá 19 and 20 were built. And lastly, Merhautova 28, 30 and 32 were completed in 1911. Schmeer and Fischer’s buildings on Merhautova Street stand out for their unique romantic character and the distinctly structured design of their facades, and they can definitely be included in the peak period of this creative duo’s work from around 1910. The buildings’ urban and artistic value is all the more significant because they form a highly well-preserved ensemble that gives this stretch of an important Brno avenue its unique atmosphere. Stylistically, their unique eclectic architecture most closely resembled the Munich Secession, with the addition of modernist elements. One typical feature was the facades’ great compositional diversity, with high gables, rectangular and polygonal oriels and turret-like structures. The facades were structured by and decorated with elements and details of various shapes and materials inspired by various historical periods. Adding to their distinctive character was the inclusion of wooden or metal elements and the use of variously textured plaster. Some of décor carried specific meanings, for instance symbolizing the profession or name of the builder Schmeer himself. On Merhautova 16, for instance, the portal bears the capital letter S (Schmeer), accompanied by a knight’s helmet – an allusion to the builder’s second name Wilhelm, which can be interpreted as ‘knight of the great helmet’. A helmet motif can also be found in the stucco decorations on nos. 20 and 22, while the gable of no. 32 contains a statue of the patron saint of equestrians, St. George. On Merhautova 24, meanwhile, stucco reliefs inside rectangular fields depict construction crafts (carpenter, bricklayer), and another reference to construction work (motifs of buildings with festoons) can be found repeatedly on the facades of nos. 20 and 22. Most of the buildings’ street elevations are decorated with meticulously executed vegetal elements, in particular the motif of flower baskets, which can be considered one of the most typical motifs of Brno architecture from around 1910.
The entire street front feels like an exhibition of a wide range of facade designs straddling the stylistic boundary between Art Nouveau and modernism. Fischer often worked with variations of the same design on adjoining pairs of houses. Sometimes these pairs are mirror images of each other, while at other times they are visually connected by a central gable or brought together by an almost identical décor, although we nevertheless always find deviations in composition and detailing that enliven the whole. Generally speaking, the buildings’ architectural design thus works with repetition and variability, symmetry and asymmetry in a visually attractive and playful combination of forms. The repetition of similar elements throughout the entire ensemble continues in their interiors as well.
The new buildings were the property of the builder F. W. Schmeer, who rented them out and over the following years sold some of them to private individuals. Merhautova 24, 26 and 28 remained in his possession the longest, until the 1930s. Some of the buildings were already modified in the interwar period. For instance, no. 14 and no. 12 were renovated and given an extra floor in 1927 and 1932, respectively, and part of the basement of no. 20 was converted into a garage in 1929. The letter A in the cartouche above the entrance to no. 20 was probably added after 1927, when Dr. Jaroslav Adam purchased the building from Schmeer. After 1945, the buildings went without maintenance for a long time; even in the 1980s, bullet holes from the Second World War were still visible on their facades, and all the buildings were in great disrepair. Recently, the buildings have been renovated one by one, with their original appearance preserved on the outside and, for the most part, on the inside as well.
Pavla Cenková
