Influence of the Gallia family on the cultural and artistic development of Vienna at the turn of the 19th and 20th century
Abstract
The available sources about the Gallia family reach back to the year 1757. Almost 100 years later Emanuel Gallia settled down in Bzenec, where he established his own business and raised seven children together with his wife.From the documents we can conclude that the family kept tight social and business relationships even after their children have moved to various cities within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
One of the most important connections came from the wedding of Josefina Gallia and Nathan Hamburger. Nathan Hamburger was a successful entrepreneur.
He cooperated in the long term with Adolf Gallia, which as a lawyer administered letters of patent of Hamburger's companies and Moritz Gallia married his daughter. Adolf went to Vienna, where he studied law and settled down here together with his wife Ida.
He became the main letters of patent lawyer for Carl Auer, which later also employed his brothers. After the year 1900, Adolf Gallia purchased land near the planned "Ringstrasse", where he built several multi-story houses in one block.
He hired for this the architect Jakob Gartner, which also built the Hamburger Villa in Olomouc. He represented, as it seems, moderate modernism, preferred the historical style, through which he showed his status.
He frequently met with people, which were connected to the Austrian newspaper "Die Zeit", which he supported very financially. On the other hand his brother Moritz Gallia, which became a director of "Auer's Gasglülicht" in Vienna, preferred the contemporary cultural scene and newly developed design.
Together with his wife Hermine Hamburger, they had contacts with artistic circled and met Alma Mahler, Gustav Klimt, Josef Hoffman, Carl Moll, etc. They became patrons of new art, bought the early design of Wiener Werkstätte and supported the secession movement.
In 1938 the offspring of M. & H. Gallia are emigrating to Australia together with the entire family estate.
This collection is now deposited in National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.