This old building, located in Miskolc, is not an abandoned palace or mansion. In fact, it is not even as old as I expected; it was built in 1940-1941 as the shooting range of the Miskolc Railway Sports Club. This interesting building was not designed by an architect but by an engineer named Emil Bruckner, who was the head of the railway workshops in the city.

Emil Bruckner’s life story is quite intriguing. Born in 1879 in Felsőlövő (now located in Austria, known as Oberschützen in German), he came from a prominent family. After his studies in Budapest, he began his career with the railway in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the era of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He started as an engineer-assistant in Sarajevo in 1906, moved to Mostar in 1909, and became the station master in Dolac in 1912. By 1915, he returned to Mostar as the station master.

The dissolution of Austria-Hungary marked the end of his career in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He returned to Hungary and took charge of the railway workshops in Szombathely, and in 1932, he assumed the role of head of the railway workshops in Miskolc.

Emil Bruckner was instrumental in improving the working conditions for railway employees. Under his leadership, the workshops in Szombathely and Miskolc underwent modernization. He recognized the importance of culture and sports for MÁV’s (Hungarian Railway) employees. He organized trips to Italy for the members of the Railway Choir in Szombathely. While he expressed sympathies for Mussolini and the fascist regime in articles written after the tour, there is no evidence to suggest he was actively involved in Hungarian politics. In Miskolc, he expanded the range of sports available to railway workers and promoted the construction of new sports facilities, such as the shooting range. Emil Bruckner retired in 1942 and resided in Budapest until his passing in 1965.