Kharkiv

Kharkiv V.G. Korolenko State Scientific Library

Buildings

Description

  • The two-story library building with a basement was consecrated and inaugurated on January 28, 1901. The main building of the library is designed in the Renaissance style. The building is characterized by emphasized monumentality.

The composition and decorative solutions of the facades correspond to the spatial distribution of the main premises. Above the main entrance from the side of Korolenko Lane on the second floor there is a reading room, the location of which is indicated by large arched windows with frames - archivolts. Above the windows with archivolts, there are decorative molded parts in the form of a keystone with mascarons. Ionic pilasters are located between the windows. The building is crowned with a cornice of significant extension on modulons, above which a parapet with a number of decorative elements in the form of wreaths rises. The first floor is framed with monumental rustic stone. The walls of the second floor are also rusticated and decorated with stucco. Wall surfaces are smoothly plastered and painted.

The interiors of the building have been carefully preserved in their original form. Through the entrance vestibule, a wide lobby leads to the main three-flight staircase with gentle steps and an openwork metal fence. The staircase with rusticated walls is illuminated by a skylight.
The large reading room, designed according to the project also for concerts and ceremonial meetings, is illuminated on both sides by arched windows, decorated with Ionic pilasters, in the middle of which there are medallions with portraits of famous writers and poets. The ceiling with a ceiling along the perimeter of the room is decorated with abundant molding with decorative elements of torches, garlands, and women's heads.

The composition and decorative solutions of the facades correspond to the spatial distribution of the main premises. Above the main entrance from the side of Korolenko Lane on the second floor there is a reading room, the location of which is indicated by large arched windows with frames - archivolts. Above the windows with archivolts, there are decorative molded parts in the form of a keystone with mascarons. Ionic pilasters are located between the windows. The building is crowned with a cornice of significant extension on modulons, above which a parapet with a number of decorative elements in the form of wreaths rises. The first floor is framed with monumental rustic stone. The walls of the second floor are also rusticated and decorated with stucco. Wall surfaces are smoothly plastered and painted.

The interiors of the building have been carefully preserved in their original form. Through the entrance vestibule, a wide lobby leads to the main three-flight staircase with gentle steps and an openwork metal fence. The staircase with rusticated walls is illuminated by a skylight.
The large reading room, designed according to the project also for concerts and ceremonial meetings, is illuminated on both sides by arched windows, decorated with Ionic pilasters, in the middle of which there are medallions with portraits of famous writers and poets. The ceiling with a ceiling along the perimeter of the room is decorated with abundant molding with decorative elements of torches, garlands, and women's heads.

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HISTORY

  • In 1890, the progressive community of Kharkov raised the issue of building a special building for the city library, founded in 1866 and huddled in different rooms.

In 1890, the progressive community of Kharkov raised the issue of building a special building for the city library, founded in 1866 and huddled in different rooms. In 1893, the historian D. Bagaley attracted city government and state bodies to the discussion and solution of this problem. A land plot belonging to the university was allocated for the construction.

The initiator and popularizer of the construction was D.I. Bagaley is an outstanding Ukrainian historian, professor at Kharkiv University, later academician of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.
The building was designed by the academician of architecture A.N. Beketov free of charge. For the implementation of the project, the board of the Kharkiv Public Library presented the architect with a grateful address signed by Professor of Kharkiv University D.I. Bagaley and other board members. The message read: "You decided to devote your work and time to this work and performed it brilliantly, with your characteristic talent."
The construction of the library building was carried out under the supervision of the architect of Kharkov University V.V. Velichko (1863-1923).
In the development of architectural details of facades and interiors, an employee of the design bureau and student A.N. Beketov - V.G. Krichevsky (1873-1952), later an outstanding Ukrainian architect and artist, the founder of the Ukrainian architectural modern style, the author of the project of the small state emblem of Ukraine and sketches of banknotes of the UPR.

In 1890, the progressive community of Kharkov raised the issue of building a special building for the city library, founded in 1866 and huddled in different rooms. In 1893, the historian D. Bagaley attracted city government and state bodies to the discussion and solution of this problem. A land plot belonging to the university was allocated for the construction.

The initiator and popularizer of the construction was D.I. Bagaley is an outstanding Ukrainian historian, professor at Kharkiv University, later academician of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.
The building was designed by the academician of architecture A.N. Beketov free of charge. For the implementation of the project, the board of the Kharkiv Public Library presented the architect with a grateful address signed by Professor of Kharkiv University D.I. Bagaley and other board members. The message read: "You decided to devote your work and time to this work and performed it brilliantly, with your characteristic talent."
The construction of the library building was carried out under the supervision of the architect of Kharkov University V.V. Velichko (1863-1923).
In the development of architectural details of facades and interiors, an employee of the design bureau and student A.N. Beketov - V.G. Krichevsky (1873-1952), later an outstanding Ukrainian architect and artist, the founder of the Ukrainian architectural modern style, the author of the project of the small state emblem of Ukraine and sketches of banknotes of the UPR.

INTERESTING FACTS

  • Library named after V.G. Korolenko is one of the largest and oldest in Ukraine.
  • "1886" - appears on the pediment of the building above the entrance as the year the city library was founded. Initially, the library worked in 3 rooms of the outbuilding of the City Council on Nikolaevskaya Square (now Constitution Square). In 1888. she was transferred to the premises of the old building of the City Merchant Bank at the corner of Torgovaya (now Pavlovskaya Square) Square and Pletnevsky Lane. The library funds grew and it was again transferred to the private household of Tempinskaya at 4 Moskovskaya Street (now Moskovsky Prospekt). At the time of the opening of the library, its fund consisted of 1,700 copies and consisted of donations from individuals and institutions such as the Rumyantsev Museum, Kiev University, and the Russian Geographical Society. The writer Grigory Danilevsky bequeathed over 3 thousand books from his own collection to the library.
  • A land plot belonging to the university was allocated for the construction. Its area was 0.36 hectares, which, according to the founders, should have provided the library for 100 years in advance. However, after 100 years the site has doubled and has long become cramped.
  • The author's project was not fully implemented. The sculpture and corner vases on the attic of the risalit of the main entrance were not made. The sculpture depicted a seated Athena Poliada (the patroness of the Hellenic polis, its trade and crafts, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge) in a helmet, with a staff in her hand and a small round shield at her feet.
  • The library building is associated with outstanding events in the life of the city. In 1902. the XII archaeological congress was held in Kharkov. This event attracted the attention of the greatest scientists of the time. Some of the scientific reports, public lectures and concerts held as part of the congress were held within the walls of the library building.
  • Outstanding musicians of their time performed in the library hall: G. G. Neuhaus, R. M. Glier, the choir of N. D. Leontovich, G. M. Hotkevich. V. V. Mayakovsky and A. A. Akhmatova read their poems.
  • In 1906. on the initiative of the members of the library board G.M. Abramov and D.I. Bagaleya opens the Ukrainian department in the library, which had no analogues then on the territory of Ukraine, which was part of the Russian Empire. The work of the department was supervised by a special Ukrainian commission, which at various times included H. D. Alchevskaya, N. I. Mikhnovsky, G. M. Hotkevich.
  • In 1941-43. During the Nazi occupation of Kharkov, more than 600 thousand valuable publications were destroyed and plundered. The data on the losses of the KhGNB during the occupation are given among other indictments at the Nuremberg trial of 1945-1946.
  • Library named after V.G. Korolenko is one of the largest and oldest in Ukraine.
  • "1886" - appears on the pediment of the building above the entrance as the year the city library was founded. Initially, the library worked in 3 rooms of the outbuilding of the City Council on Nikolaevskaya Square (now Constitution Square). In 1888. she was transferred to the premises of the old building of the City Merchant Bank at the corner of Torgovaya (now Pavlovskaya Square) Square and Pletnevsky Lane. The library funds grew and it was again transferred to the private household of Tempinskaya at 4 Moskovskaya Street (now Moskovsky Prospekt). At the time of the opening of the library, its fund consisted of 1,700 copies and consisted of donations from individuals and institutions such as the Rumyantsev Museum, Kiev University, and the Russian Geographical Society. The writer Grigory Danilevsky bequeathed over 3 thousand books from his own collection to the library.
  • A land plot belonging to the university was allocated for the construction. Its area was 0.36 hectares, which, according to the founders, should have provided the library for 100 years in advance. However, after 100 years the site has doubled and has long become cramped.
  • The author's project was not fully implemented. The sculpture and corner vases on the attic of the risalit of the main entrance were not made. The sculpture depicted a seated Athena Poliada (the patroness of the Hellenic polis, its trade and crafts, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge) in a helmet, with a staff in her hand and a small round shield at her feet.
  • The library building is associated with outstanding events in the life of the city. In 1902. the XII archaeological congress was held in Kharkov. This event attracted the attention of the greatest scientists of the time. Some of the scientific reports, public lectures and concerts held as part of the congress were held within the walls of the library building.
  • Outstanding musicians of their time performed in the library hall: G. G. Neuhaus, R. M. Glier, the choir of N. D. Leontovich, G. M. Hotkevich. V. V. Mayakovsky and A. A. Akhmatova read their poems.
  • In 1906. on the initiative of the members of the library board G.M. Abramov and D.I. Bagaleya opens the Ukrainian department in the library, which had no analogues then on the territory of Ukraine, which was part of the Russian Empire. The work of the department was supervised by a special Ukrainian commission, which at various times included H. D. Alchevskaya, N. I. Mikhnovsky, G. M. Hotkevich.
  • In 1941-43. During the Nazi occupation of Kharkov, more than 600 thousand valuable publications were destroyed and plundered. The data on the losses of the KhGNB during the occupation are given among other indictments at the Nuremberg trial of 1945-1946.