Josef Schnitter

Who was Josef Schnitter?

Josef Schnitter was a Czech–Bulgarian architect, engineer and geodesist credited with shaping the modern appearance of Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second-largest city.

Schnitter was born in the small town of Nový Bydžov in Bohemia, Austrian Empire. He graduated from the University of Technology's Faculty of Construction in the imperial capital Vienna and then moved to the Russian Empire, where he converted to the Eastern Orthodox Church. Schnitter arrived in Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 and assisted the Imperial Russian Army as an engineer, designing the pontoon bridges used in the crossing of the Danube and the fortification equipment employed by the Russians in the Siege of Plevna. Schnitter was injured at Pleven and received a sabre from General Eduard Totleben, who commanded the siege, as a recognition of his contribution to the siege's success.

Even before the Treaty of San Stefano was signed on 3 March 1878 and Bulgaria was liberated from Ottoman rule, Schnitter was dispatched to Plovdiv by the Russians. He settled in the city, which was the capital of autonomous Eastern Rumelia until the Unification of Bulgaria in 1885, and, after a brief private practice, served as Plovdiv's head architect and municipal chief of engineering from 1878 until his death in 1914.