Marmorosch-Blank Palace, from Doamnei street no. 2-4 was built between 1915 and 1923 according to the plans of architect Petre Antonescu, in neoromanian style, with byzantine and gothic influences. The structure of the building was made by the engineer Anghel Saligny and inside there are several murals made by Cecilia Cutescu-Storck.
Founded in 1848, in the context of the country’s political and national renaissance, the bank was based in a small house located in one of the oldest districts of Bucharest. Its founders were Iacob Marmorosch, banker Loebel and Mauriciu Blank.
In the 1920s Marmorosch-Blank bank had become the strongest bank in Romania. It had strong business relationships with german, austrian, french or american banking groups, it owned 25 local branches, had offices in Paris, Istanbul, Vienna, and New York, and it controlled approximately 115 companies.
Its decline began 7 years after the construction of the main building, in the context of the world economic crisis of 1930. Initially going into insolvency, the bank soon went bankrupt. It overcame this with the help of the NBR (National Bank of Romania), and survived, despite the difficult times, until 1984 (100 years since its establishment) when it was nationalized.
The transformation of the former bank into a hotel involved an investment of 42 million euros, and the work lasted three years. We are happy with this because from both, our City Hunt team and from a various professional’s point of view, it is an extremely successful restoration.
“Here is the treasury of the former Marmorosch-Blank bank, the safe where the deposit boxes were, the whole historical part has been restored in detail, mosaic elements, stone, ceramics. The original safe door has been preserved and restored and the safe is now one of the hotel’s bars. Everywhere you look you can see the one of the 3200 safety deposit boxes, made from hard bras, each who has been restored and made functional again with a key” explains architect Eliza Yokina
