Lviv, Львів, Lwów, Lemberg, Leopolis, Leopoldstadt, לעמבערג and Львов. The various names of this beautiful city in the west of Ukraine already reveal that it had an interesting history like that of other cities in Central and Eastern Europe.

Lviv was founded in 1256 by the king of Galicia, also known as Ruthenia, and added to Poland by Casimir III in 1349. Lviv became an important part of Poland and later the Polish-Commonwealth as a major trade hub on the route between the Black Sea and Baltic Sea as it was granted city rights, trade privileges and staple right. It was also a very multicultural, multireligious and multi-ethnic city with Poles, Germans, Ruthenians, Jews, Armenians and more groups living side by side.

In 1772 Lviv became part of Austria (the Habsburg empire) after the first partition of the Commonwealth and its name was germanised to Lemberg. This was not a bad turn of events for Lviv as it became an important cultural centre with its own university. At this university courses were taught in four languages and in the 19th century its multilingual nature would both help revive Polish language and culture and lay the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism.

The 20th century was very turbulent for Lviv. After World War 1, it was shortly part of the young West Ukrainian People’s Republic, retaken by Poland, occupied by Soviet forces in 1939, occupied by German forces in 1945, retaken by Soviet forces, annexed by the Soviet Union and finally part of an independent Ukraine. So, if someone was born in Lviv in 1910 and died in 2000, they had lived in 5 countries without ever leaving their hometown.  

The second World War and its aftermath especially had a profound impact on the city as almost the whole Jewish community (160 000 people) did not survive the Holocaust, the Polish community left the city and was replaced by a new population of Ukrainians and Russian migrants.

The city itself and its magnificent buildings survived the 20th century relatively unscathed, and its historic centre is placed on the UNESCO world heritage list. Its various building styles bear witness to its rich cultural past. 

Originally posted on Instagram on November 5, 2021