Ulrich Department Store, 31 Bajcsy-Zsilinszky street

Source: egykor.hu

One of the creators of the Hungarian building services engineering, the Austrian manufacturer and wholesaler, Ulrich B. J. (Baptist Johannes) established his department store under 31 Váci Boulevard (later Vilmos Kaiser street, currently Bajcsy-Zsilinszky street) in 1912 (on the corner of Dessewffy street) after his Budapest storage that opened in 1884. On the courtyard and ground floor of the department store, a storeroom and shopping mall welcomed the customers of Pest. He had everything manufactured in his factory on Váci street, which had everything an apartment, a hospital, a sanatorium or a spa needed for heating, warm water and other comforts, mostly sanitary products.

Ulrich Department Store as "Szerelvényértékesítő Vállalat" (Fixture Supply Company) - 1970s
Source: cronobook.com

All of these were sold in his showroom downtown and his store, and according to his catalogue, the building was “The store of all pipes, air-, water- and steam pipe fixtures, tools and technical goods”. After nationalization, it had become the Fixture Supply Company.

  
Ulrich's catalogue of the fixtures on stock
Source: antikvarium.hu, egykor.hu

At the same time – besides his factory in Gumpoldskirchen – he had his Ulrich B. J. Tin and Lead Factory in Budapest, under 117-119 Váci street (corner of Fövény street), which was nationalized in 1948. From 1949 it operated as Ulrich Metal Fixture Factory National Company, then from the mid-50s until 1964 it was called Metal Fixture Factory.

The Föveny street Tin- and Lead Factory on a drawing
Source: egykor.hu

The large corner house was built in 1912, bearing the style of Viennese Art Nouveau, slightly Parisian in its atmosphere. It’s not Romantic Art Nouveau, no garlands, flowers, like other modern buildings of similar size and background at the time. Here it only has geometry, clearly squared, a bit stiff, but since it has a lot of light, space and width, it is not unfriendly. The flooring is laid down like a carpet at the visitor’s feet, its colour still bright in the triangles of the staircase landings, even after more than 100 years.

     
Source: Wikimedia

The apartment house and its residents give a colourful picture according to the address registry of 1928. The building had been a private school and guesthouse, and here lived 3-4 chief executive officers, multiple doctors, doctors of chemistry, wholesalers of spices and colonial products, teachers and retired commander. In the phone book of the 1920s and the Address Registry of Budapest, multiple ads can be found of the wide variety of goods in Ulrich B. J.’s store.

      
Source: meselohazakbudapesten.blogspot.com

The Ulrich Company published a special catalogue, unique in the industry, which contained every imaginable fixture, equipment, pipe, anything, with every size and parameter. The catalogue of 1914 was very illustrative, like copper engravings, had 1360 pages, and showed on beautiful pictures the newest in building engineering, water-, gas-, central heating- and telephone equipments, tools and goods of the time.

    
Source: merahotel.hu

The façade of the building had gone through a complete renovation in the 2010s. Currently the four-star Mera Hotel and a branch of the JYSK market chain is operating here, and apartments and offices can be rented inside.

Source: Wikimedia

Sources: egykor.hu, meselohazak.hu