While never as appealing - or picturesque for that matter - a story like that of merchants or royal family affairs, the industrial era brought about its share of colourful characters, changed a part of the city for good and - just like pretty much everything else around - had its ups and downs. This article will probably see ongoing additions, but I shall start with one of the main local figures that helped shaping the early 20th century Bucharest: Dumitru Marinescu-Bragadiru.
One of the 8 sons of a shingler, Marinescu (he was to assume the other name, of Bragadiru, upon purchasing the Bragadiru Domain) was born in 1842. Aged 12, he got a job as a good-for-all apprentice with the Crucea Albă, a brandy and confectionery shop off the Piața Sfântul Anton (En. St. Anton Market); at first, his main duty was supplying the shop with water from River Dâmbovița. As time passed, Iancu Ștefănescu, the business owner, noticed Marinescu’s being serious and diligent at whatever he was assigned to do, so the latter moved behind the counter, then turned into the former’s partner and eventually, in 1866, he was granted the business. But he started kicking even before being fully in charge, as, despite his master’s forbidding him to make any purchases in his absence, the young Marinescu had started buying spirit on credit from Greek merchants and stocking it just to sell it when and where opportunities showed up; capital accumulating, he leased a small spirit distillery in Muscel area. Marinescu was to make good profits providing spirit to hospitals and brandy to soldiers during the 1877 War of Independence. It all went so well that he soon realized that, firstly, he no longer wanted to rely on other providers for the alcohol he dealt and, secondly, he had made enough money to start his own enterprise producing it. So, in 1879 he bought a plot of land in Bragadiru, a village out of Bucharest and built an alcohol distillery, a school, a church and a town hall; at the same time he added the Bragadiru tag to his last name, tag by which he would be better known.
Not much later, in 1883 he moved into the city proper and bought a 10 Hectare plot approximately between the actual Calea Rahovei and George Coșbuc avenues, where, noting the rather weak local competition, he wanted to have a beer brewery. With the first beer brewery in town being founded in 1809 by Johann de Gotha, at the time, there were only two such businesses in Bucharest, those belonging to German Erhard Luther (founded in 1869 and later known as Grivița Beer Brewery), respectively Carol Oppler (founded in 1870). With construction works started in 1894, Bragadiru Brewery opened up in 1895; it was to have 60 employees by 1901 and 261 by 1922. The first decade of the 20th century saw it reach a production of over 3.00 million liters per annum versus Luther’s 2.50 and Oppler’s 1.90 million. After turning the enterprise into a share holding in 1909, the former spirit trader also changed his residence for a property not far away from the brewery. On the same grounds he built sleeping quarters for his employees, a bank, groceries; as a novelty at the time, his employees' children received a bagel and a bottle of milk as an incentive for school attendance, while Sunday was free for all. As a climax of the care for his employees, Bragadiru built the Cultural Palace, a multi-functional structure meant as a workers' club. Apart from the big, column-flanked ballroom where theatre acts and movie projections were also hosted, the property hosted bowling facilities and a library. Built to Austrian Architect Anton Schuckerl's plans, the Colos (as it was soon nicknamed) was set between 1905 and 1911. Following the tradition started by Luther's Colosseum and its Eliseu (inspired by the Elysee), Bragadiru also endowed his palace with an extensive garden.
Bragadiru's plans did not stop there however, as he had further ideas of expanding his business. While the beer brewery was successfully added a vegetable tin plant, he also envisaged building a luxury hotel in the city centre. However a sudden stroke put an end to his life in 1915 and his eldest son, Dumitru, was to be in charge of the family possessions through the interwar period. At the end of WW2, as Romania fell under the Communist rule, all these possessions were confiscated, some of Bragadiru's inheritors were imprisoned and others managed to flee the country. The beer brewery would be renamed as Rahova and go on with production; following the fall of Communism, the family inheritors were denied being given back the brewery which was bought over and closed down in 1998, with the prospects of being turned into a mall. A popular culture venue bearing Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin's name during the Communist period, the palace would however be given back to the remaining of Bragadiru's family (see the image next to the paragraph above and here to the right). Various private and corporate events are nowadays hosted in its ballroom, while the ground floor hosts a few pubs and cafes.
Desolated as the area might still look (with uncompleted, Communist era, gargantuan structures belonging to the Romanian Academy across the street), it is well worth a stroll to the palace itself, the remaining parts of the beer brewery farther up the street, as well as to the former warehouses of the customs office. These warehouses were built between 1894 and 1899 to Architect Giulio Magni's plans, which also drafted the plans for the
Traian Market Hall. The grounds were extensive, but the most impressive part was the taller structure meant for the Commodity, Control and Real Estate Exchange House, nowadays hosting
the Ark, a multifunctional space (see the image to the left). One can usually walk inside. The ground floor is an open space where various events take place, while the basement hosts a contemporary space with an underground touch; post-industrial, smart design offices lie on the upper floors. Try your charms and luck, get that self-possessed, ‘know-who-I-am?’ look and walk around. Back to it, some of the old Bragadiru beer brewery was finely restored and hosts a furniture showroom, so it can be visited (pictured on top of the page). Do not be put off by the not very tidy streets or the busy flower market around, which only adds to the local contrasts and actually better emphasizes the structures. To get to Bragadiru Palace, take the subway to Piața Unirii and then either walk past the Palace of Parliament or take tramway 32 to the Calea Rahovei crossing (just past the George Coșbuc Market). Even though they are open only for events and adjacent info trips officially, the palace can be visited if nicely asking, by appointment; contact the management
here. The former Commodity Exchange House and the restored wing of the beer brewery lie some 500 m. up the street, on the crossing with Uranus Street.
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Note: all colour pictures by Alexandru Dumitru. Period pictures are scans of old postcards and beer labels. If there are copyright issues, please let me know. Thank you.