Josef Schnitter jako otec moderního Plovdivu
Abstract: The goal of this paper is to trace up the life and the work of the Czech architect Josef Schnitter (1852-1914) who was for a long time the main architect of the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv. Bulgarian territories were a part of the Ottoman Empire for five centuries and their development including the development of the cities was not managed by any urban principles. After the Russian-Turkish war in 1877-1878, that brought the freedom to the Bulgarians, many towns needed to be reconstructed and planned according to the modern urban principles. In this difficult process the state didn't have many specialists and therefore a lot of them came to the country from abroad. Many architects came from the Czech country and became pioneers of Bulgarian city planning. One of them was Josef Schnitter. He was a great architect, who adored neoclassical and neo-renaissance forms and principles in designing his buildings. At the same time he became the author of the first urban plan of the city of Plovdiv and one of the most important planners of the city development at the turn of 19th century in Bulgaria. The plan from 1896 is an excellent example where the architect used modern urban paradigms and, at the same time, a sensitive way to preserve a historical city core and buildings. The paper focuses on the characteristics of this famous plan and on the architectural pieces of work of Czech Josef Schnitter.
