NEWS dresses up. Like every year, a new edition of “The 10 Argentines of the Year”, event that, as usual, will have the presence of the most outstanding personalities of politics, justice, culture and Argentine entertainment. And the place chosen is the historic building of the former brewery Munichlocated in Puerto Madero.
The site has a curious story of entrepreneurship and talent, led by real characters, at a time in the country that is longed for today. A parallelism of two very different times but united in the same façade, which takes us back a hundred years in the past.
The architect Andrés Kálnay landed in Buenos Aires in 1921. He was leaving Hungary, his native country, because of the Romanian occupation after the First World War. That same year, President Hipólito Yrigoyen inaugurated the first section of the South Coastal Avenue, urban limit between the city and the river, whose project included a wall with stairs and a semicircular pergola. In that area, seven years later, the Munich brewery.
In 1927, kálnay he built the palace, a significant work in his career. The gastronomic venture came hand in hand with the ambitious building. The businessman of Catalan origin, Ricardo Banus, had started in the business with the opening of a brewery in the Once neighborhood. The success of the company allowed it to expand to other areas, such as Palermo and Tribunales, until it reached the Costanera, consolidating the seal “Munich Brewery”.
The inauguration took place on December 21, 1927. According to records, the place was packed with people who were fighting to participate in the act. From then on, it became one of the referential places of the distinguished Buenos Aires society. At night, from Costanera Avenue, an attractive spectacle could be observed with the building fully illuminated by its lampposts, and a multitude of diners dining at tables distributed on terraces and galleries.
Among the renowned personalities who passed through the place were Leopoldo Lugones, Alfredo Palacios, Alfonsina Storni, Belisario Roldán, Juan Manuel Fangioand even, Carlos Gardel. The distinguished visitors toured the different sectors of the complex, enjoying the Central European style of architecture, with the main façade facing the river.
The construction of the facility was carried out in the unprecedented period of 4 months and 8 days. The procedure required that the land be compacted, for which material from the excavations for the underground of the Lacroze company was used. Then, on a one meter thick slab, the building was built, with a basement, ground floor and two levels with outdoor terraces.
The engineer Frederick Kammerer was responsible for directing the work and was in charge of calculating the structures, while the installations were carried out by the engineer H.Potthoff. In this regard, the outer walls of the galleries were used for the representation of characters and scenes from the Munich folklore, worked with the stencil technique. The representative figures of the Bavarian people were created by the German sculptor Enrique Swindsackl.
The complex has elements of picturesqueness from the center of Europe, the architect’s place of origin, although it also displays features of the art decostyle booming in the mid-1920s. However, for specialists, it is a composition “eclectic”, which takes elements of diverse influences mixed in a style typical of kalnayalso visible in buildings, such as the one in Critical Journal or the Florida Cinemadesigned by the same architect.
Specializing in decoration, the same architect designed the chandeliers, the boisserie, the stair railings, the tiles and the unique stained glass windows of the brewery, which illustrated characters dressed in traditional attire from the city of Munichand other allegorical motifs of beer.
On the restored ceilings, two emblematic buildings of Munich can be seen cast in plaster: the cathedral and the city hall. Heraldic emblems related to beer and eating have been carved into the pre-cast columns of the galleries. In some of them there are female figures, dice and playing cards, while others illustrate the vegetables involved in making beer.
At the north end of the room you can see the image of a woman, who is bavariaand at the southern end the small munich monk. The little monk is a character related to the conversion to Christianity of the Bavarians, thanks to the beer known as bock (black beer). The creators of this variety were the Italian monks of the Order of Saint Francis of Paula in Bavariawho used it as a substitute for solid foods, during the Lenten fasts.
Undoubtedly, the pergola is a visual attraction for the audience. The lamb, the feline, the monkey and the pig represent each stage of drunkenness, according to an Eastern legend that has been adopted by various Western cultures. As for the floors, the rampant lion represents the principality, the ship represents the isar river that runs through the city and the locomotive represents the German railway industry.
The stained glass windows incorporate a repertoire of characters and scenes related to the atmosphere of the Bavarian people and their daily life, always using the local product as a theme: beer. A later addition, carried out in the 1980 restoration, is found in the mezzanine reserved area. There, the different monuments located throughout the spa are reproduced: the Plus Ultra, the Fountain of the Nereids, the monument to Spain and La Antena Monumental.
Over the years, damaged by the passage of time, the building of “The Munich” was awarded to the National Telecommunications Company (ENTEL) and housed the Museum of Telecommunications. This forced its restoration, which was carried out by the architect Rudolf of Liechtenstein. It was reopened on December 5, 1980 and was restored to the City Government in February 2002.
Currently, it is the headquarters of the General Directorate of Museums and offers the possibility of carrying out multiple events of cultural interest, such as the one that will take place next Tuesday night.
by RN
Image gallery
