One of the most remarkable buildings in St. Petersburg, located in the very heart of the Northern capital - on Nevsky Prospekt - is the Singer building. We will tell you more about its rich history and fate in the material below.
Who is Singer
Probably everyone knows that Singer is a clothing company. Because of this, it is not at all difficult to conclude that the "Singer House" is a house that is somehow connected with this office. This is true, but before we talk about the history of the Singer building in St. Petersburg, let's get to know a man named Singer, after whom the clothing company was named, and find out who he is.
Isaac Singer (according to some reports, Isaac; in fact, these are variants of the same name) lived in the nineteenth century. He was an industrialist, a businessman - as they would now define his occupation - an inventor; and it was he who became the founder of the company of the same name for the production of sewing machines (having previously improved themconstruction).
Isaac was born in the United States in the early nineteenth century. Based on his name, many assume that he was Jewish by nationality; there is no exact information about this, as well as about the origin of his parents. It is known that the real name of the father was Reisinger; how the first syllable was dropped is also unclear.
When Isaac was ten years old, his parents divorced. At first, the future inventor stayed with his father, but he married a second time, the young Singer did not find a common language with his stepmother - and ran away from home. He received his first income in the theater, speaking on stage. He fancied himself a great artist, but the rest were of the opposite opinion. Perhaps that is why he later abandoned the theater and hit the invention.
He started inventing in 1839, when he was twenty-eight. He received his first patent for a rock drilling machine. As for the sewing machine, it is a mistake to believe that Singer invented it. This is not true at all, and he himself never said such a thing. In 1850, when Singer demonstrated to the public his first model of the aforementioned apparatus, other models of such machines were already on the market. As the legends say, it took Singer only ten days to improve the proposed early models and eliminate their shortcomings. So, it was Singer who placed the shuttle horizontally, which turned out to be more convenient. In addition, he introduced a number of other innovations that made it possible to consider his sewing machine the best and brought him not only fame, but also a fortune.
Building"Singer House", Petersburg
The "Singer" company, founded by Isaac Singer, appeared in the early 50s of the 19th century. And the first Russified plant in our country started working only at the beginning of the 20th century. He did not appear in St. Petersburg, oddly enough, but in Podolsk. As for the history of the Singer building in St. Petersburg, it is partly connected with the appearance of a similar building in New York. However, first things first…
Original idea
By the beginning of the twentieth century, the aforementioned clothing company was fabulously we althy. Wanting to strengthen her "sewing power", she began to build premises for her branches in different cities and even countries. For example, the owners built themselves an 11-story office skyscraper in Manhattan - at that time (recall, it was the very beginning of the twentieth century), eleven floors were really considered a skyscraper.
So, having erected a similar building in the United States, the representatives of the company drew attention to the capital of the Russian Empire (this is not a reservation, it was St. Petersburg that was then the capital of our country). The leadership of "Singer" wished to build a skyscraper in St. Petersburg, similar to the American one. A contractor has already been found who would take on this work and complete the project on the model of Ernest Flagg, an American colleague, whose "pen" belonged to the Singer Building in Manhattan.
However, such plans were not destined to come true.
Plans have changed
Yes, plansreally had to change. And all because, firstly, St. Petersburg is located in a swampy area, which does not favor the construction of skyscrapers, which became popular in the United States just at that time. Secondly, in St. Petersburg there was a restriction on the height of buildings being erected. It was determined by the height of the Winter Palace. New buildings should not exceed twenty-three meters. It would seem that the idea of the Singer company to settle in a skyscraper on Nevsky Prospekt collapsed. However, a way out was found - it was found by the architect Pavel Syuzor, who later completed the work.
This exit was the construction of a huge dome, which now crowns the Singer building. The thing is that the restriction on the construction of buildings in height extended exclusively to the facades of buildings. The attic and the dome, erected on the building of the Singer company in St. Petersburg, were no longer banned. They begin already above the Winter Palace, nevertheless, not a word of protest was said - and Suzor set to work.
The location for the Singer building was not chosen by chance (it is located on Nevsky Prospekt, directly opposite the Kazan Cathedral). This is one of the busiest and most passable places in the city - both now and in those days - so the office's client flow was ensured.
Interestingly, at the end of the eighteenth century, first a three- and then a four-story building was built on this piece of land. This building housed three offices: a music shop, a photo studio and a bookstore.shop. Moreover, it was the latter that owned most of the building. So the further emergence of a bookstore in the Singer building in St. Petersburg (pictured below) was probably predetermined historically. However, let's not get too far ahead. The House of Books on Nevsky has not yet appeared, but the Singer company, on the contrary, is flourishing.
Architecture
In the building "Singer" on Nevsky Prospekt different styles are intricately mixed. This is neo-baroque, which is expressed, for example, by the Valkyries - they are located on the ship's rosters under the dome, or by cartouches - framed in the form of a shield with curls or a scroll in a half-opened form. It is also Art Nouveau: dragon heads, floral ornaments, glazed tiles and so on point to it. This mixture of styles gave an additional peculiar charm to this unusual building, unlike any other.
At the same time, even framing the building, the architect did not forget that it would belong to a retail facility, and, having shown imagination and ingenuity, reflected this in the design. So, the aforementioned Valkyries are holding the rod of Mercury - a symbol of trade, who is the spindle, and who is even … a sewing machine.
Sculptures of the Valkyries (there are three pairs in total) are located both in the attic and under the very top of the dome. They support the glass globe crowning the dome of the Singer building. At the time when this house belonged to a sewingoffice, the aforementioned globe served as an advertisement for this institution. From the inside, it was illuminated with electricity, and on the outside it was surrounded by an inscription in the form of the name of the company.
After the revolution
During the years that the Singer building belonged to the company of the same name, it housed not only the representative office of the company in our country, not only a shop selling sewing machines, but also sewing workshops. The thing is that Singer not only sold equipment, but also took orders for tailoring.
When the Singer building was just being erected in St. Petersburg and the company settled in the Russian capital, no one expected that this would not last long. The construction of the Singer House was completed in 1904, and already in 1917 the revolution broke out.
And although even before the coup, the office rented out some of the premises in its building (for example, to the United States Embassy during the First World War, and even earlier - to one of the banks), the revolution changed everything. Including the owners of the Singer building.
Starting from the seventeenth year, the house under the dome no longer belonged to the clothing industry - although the name, already firmly entrenched, remained the same.
Under book banners
At present, many Petersburgers call the building under the dome on the main avenue of the city not the Singer building (in the photo you can see how the house looked in the old days and what it looks like now), but the Book House. And thisit is no coincidence: it is the bookstore that now reigns in the premises of the former sewing office.
However, we will return to today's day later, but for now we will plunge into 1919 - the year when new owners appeared at the Singer House.
This owner was Petrogosizdat - an organization responsible for magazines, various editorial offices, and bookstores. That is why at the beginning of December 1919 the keys to bookstore No. 1, located on the first two floors of the Singer building in St. Petersburg (the photos used as illustrations for the article, make sure that this is a real architectural masterpiece) were handed over to its director. Editorial offices of various magazines and publishing houses began to be located on the upper floors. So it is not surprising that various writers and poets of the early twentieth century were regular visitors, guests of the Book House: Samuil Marshak, Korney Chukovsky, Daniil Kharms and many, many others regularly visited the building on Nevsky Prospekt opposite the Kazan Cathedral.
In the war and the second half of the twentieth century
"House of Books" has been working tirelessly for residents and guests of the city on the Neva ever since. He worked for Petersburgers even in the difficult conditions of besieged Leningrad - even when a bomb hit the building and many windows were shattered, the store did not close, but continued to bring at least a little bit of joy to the residents of the city.
After the war, the first renovation was carried out in the building - then the store was closed for a short period of time, butalready in 1948 opened its doors to visitors again. On the opening day, in front of the entrance to the Book House, there were indeed crowds eager to get inside.
The second renovation was carried out in the former Singer House just before the advent of the new century - in 1999. It turned out to be more serious, because by that time the building was dilapidated by almost seventy percent, including the need to replace both engineering systems and various communications.
Currently
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the House of the Book underwent a major overhaul, one might even say, a real restoration. The original appearance of the building was restored, such as it appeared after the completion of construction by Pavel Syuzor. "House of the book" works to this day. And the top three floors are rented by the VKontakte company for its office.
The Singer building in facts
- The building has six floors plus a domed attic as the seventh floor.
- The area of the Singer House is more than seven thousand square meters.
- For the first time in our country, it was during the construction of the Singer building in St. Petersburg that a metal frame was used - thanks to this, huge windows were made. In addition, atriums (inner courtyards under a glass roof) were also erected for the first time, and the building was also equipped with all the latest (at that time, of course), wonders of technology, including elevators. In the basement of the building there were air conditioners that supplied clean andcool air throughout the room.
- Two sculptors worked on the design of the facade.
- The design of the building has a maritime theme - a globe symbolizing various countries, the Valkyries located below … Probably, in this way a hint was given that with the help of trade (by sea, of course) "Singer" will go around the whole world.
- The diameter of the globe on top of the dome of the building is almost three meters.
- What's even more unusual about the Singer building is that the drainpipes in this house are invisible. During construction, the architect simply hid them in the walls - an unprecedented move at that time, which surprised and delighted many.
- The exact address where the modern Book House is located is Nevsky Prospekt, 28. To get to it, you need to get off at the Nevsky Prospekt metro station - there are several stations on the same avenue, but this one is the closest to the right place.
Other interesting facts
- St. Petersburg "Dom knigi" is considered one of the largest bookstores not only in our country, but throughout Europe. And on the second floor of the organization is the Singer cafe, located right next to the huge panoramic windows.
- According to some reports, excursions are periodically organized to the roof of the Singer building, to the famous glass dome - if agreed with the press service of the VKontakte company. The lucky ones who managed to visit there speak with delight about the beautiful, breathtaking view that opens from there.
- The Singer company in its heyday had more than three thousandoutlets throughout our country.
- The aforementioned office was one of the first in Russia to sell sewing machines on credit. In those years when the Singer firm flourished in Northern Palmyra, the expression "run from Singer" was common in the capital. This meant that the person took the goods in installments from the sewing machine company, but could not (or did not want to) repay the debt, and therefore was hiding from his payment and his creditors.
- Initially, Singer was a German company. However, when the First World War began, the company declared itself American. This was done in order to avoid possible attacks. It was for this very purpose - self-defense - that the premises were handed over to the US Embassy. Nevertheless, it was the allegations of links with Germany that ultimately forced the Singer company to part with their beautiful building in the seventeenth year: they were accused of espionage.
- In Soviet times, there were rumors that Singer typewriters had gold and/or platinum elements. Naive Soviet beggars who dreamed of getting rich chased these cars - and, of course, they did not find anything. In general, a huge number of all kinds of rumors and legends are associated with the products of the Singer company: they melted gold into the sewing machines of this company, and the needles for these machines contained mercury, and there are rare serial numbers for which you can get a million dollars. All this remained nothing more than rumors and legends.
- What is said above is just the idle speculation of people. But what is historically accurate is that even before the old four-story building, on the site of whichnow stands the St. Petersburg "House of the Book", in the late thirties of the eighteenth century there was a small wooden house. It housed a theater - and this building existed for exactly twelve years, until it was destroyed by fire. And then, first an archpriest lived in this place, then a pharmacist - and only after that those offices appeared there, which were already mentioned earlier.
- With the outbreak of the First World War, an eagle appeared on the facade of the Singer House - of course, a sculptural one, a symbol of America. He did not last long on the building: he disappeared without a trace already in the twenties.
This is the information about the building of the Singer company in the Northern capital, which now houses the Book House. By the way, the latter is open daily from nine in the morning until midnight. The doors of the former Singer House are open to everyone.
