Palatul Vulturul Negru, Art Nouveau palace in Oradea, Romania.
Palatul Vulturul Negru is a Secession-style corner building at Str. Independenței 1, with a high ground floor and four upper levels, made of two unequal wings joined by a glazed passage. The passage links Piața Unirii, Str. Independenței and Str. Vasile Alecsandri. The main façade on Piața Unirii is asymmetrical, and its central projecting bay ends in a trilobed attic with a stained-glass tympanum.
Construction began on 6 April 1907 on the site of the former Green Tree Palace, whose hall had hosted cultural and political events. The shell was completed by November 1907, and the palace opened on 16 November 1908. Architects Marcell Komor and Dezső Jakab designed it for lawyers Emil Adorján and Ede Kenéz-Kurländer, while contractor Ferenc Sztarill deviated from their plans, prompting the architects to disclaim responsibility for the reinforced-concrete and Mátray ceilings.
The name comes from the leaded-glass image of a black eagle (a vulture in Romanian usage) made in 1909 by Károly Neumann's Oradea stained-glass workshop. Set in the glass façade facing Vasile Alecsandri street, it marks the boundary between this palace and the neighbouring former Zöldfa Hotel, and the passage continues beneath it. The lower border once carried the inscription Neumann K. üvegfestészete Nagyvárad 1909.
The glazed passage links Independenței street, Piața Unirii and Vasile Alecsandri street, and all three entrances lead under the central dome. The stained-glass image of the black eagle faces Vasile Alecsandri street, where the passage continues into the neighbouring former Green Tree hotel. Much of the building is occupied by clubs, cafés, restaurants and offices, so the passage is busiest in the evening.
The stained-glass image is not an eagle but a black vulture, made in Károly Neumann's Oradea workshop in 1909; its lower border once read "Neumann K. üvegfestészete Nagyvárad 1909". Set in the glass façade facing Vasile Alecsandri street, it marks the boundary between this palace and the neighbouring former Zöldfa Hotel, and the passage continues beneath it into that building.
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