Stare Zdjęcia Lwowa (1860-1939)

By  Ed Rozylowicz, a longtime GGD member

City of Lviv with date range of pictures in 3 languages
This author was born in the Village of Zimna Woda, Poland (present day Zymna Voda, Ukraine) before the start of WWII. I left the village (about) the year 1943 during the mass exodus from the ravages of war and the resurgence of the Russian Army that was pushing back the German Wehrmacht. I returned to visit this village in 2001 as part of the tracing of my roots and since then I have returned four times to repeat the experience and to research my heritage and ancestry.

Zymna Voda is (today) a growing suburb of the City of L'viv (Ger: Lemberg, Pol: Lwow). To say I fell in love with this city cannot do justice to the many faces of this capital of the former autonomous region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire - Galicia. My parents and my grandparents lived within and nearby this wonderful city which was surprisingly little damaged by World War II. Walking the wide avenues of central L'viv, exploring the many iconic churches, chapels, the Opera House, open-air markets, city hall, and numerous museums instilled in me the feeling that I walked in the steps of my recent ancestors.

The one aspect of my travels to this metropolis was the intent to obtain as many photos as may be found of this city during its golden ages. Before 1860, daguerreotype process, or daguerreotypy, was the first publicly announced photographic process and for nearly twenty years was the one most commonly used. Images before that timeframe are virtually impossible to find except in private collections or museums. Fortunately, by 1860, new processes which were less expensive and produced more easily viewed images had almost completely replaced it. As such, many, many more actual photos were produced and survive to this day. As a photo collector, I availed myself to many sources to obtain copies of these old photos, digitize them, and record them for posterity. In a few instances, old photos of L'viv were obtained from "street peddlers" that offered these photos/images to foreign visitors. Digitized dates range from 1997 to 2007 but the period covered is as noted: 1860 - 1939.

Although my collection is not that intensive, it may be, nonetheless, of interest to those that trace their roots to this city. And for those that have an interest in viewing how this city evolved and survived, For GGD members, I am making available every image in my collection..
For non-members, here is a sample of 6 pictures. (click for a larger view)

1-Galyts'ka Square1-beginning 20th century  Gorodots'ka Street-1930s  3-Academichna Street-1930 4-Adam Mickiewicz Square-1930s  5-Svobody Avenue-1930s  6-Rynok Square-early 20th century

Personal Use Only

These images were collected, digitized, and submitted by Ed Rozylowicz to GGD for membership sharing.  Viewing the images is encouraged. If you wish to save any image, simply "right click" on the image with your 'mouse' and select "Save Image (Picture) As .." to save it on your computer (remember the folder where the image is stored). Please be aware that this is FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY, and only for GGD members. Do NOT post on any internet forum without permission (see below).

Pictures 1-99 lock iconPictures 100-199 lock icon; Pictures 200-299 lock iconPictures 300-399 lock iconPictures 400-444 lock icon


In the event a member wishes to use any of the images for purposes other than personal (i.e., educational institution, posting on other websites, publication, newsletters, any commercial manner, etc.), the GGD member must obtain written permission from the GGD webmaster prior to its non-personal use.  Higher resolution version of these pictures are available from the webmaster for such purposes.