RAIS BANK

Short version for information plate:

The building was built as a private bank by the merchant of the ІІ guild - Rice in
the early years of the 20th century. Later, a brick-style service building was built at
the back end of the plot.

Extended version for the website:

The financial institution appeared in the city in the first decade of the 20th
century. Thanks to the ІІ guild merchants Alfred Dietrich Rais and his brother,
Russians of Prussian origin, belonged to an ancient merchant family, was engaged in
distribution activities from the time of Peter the Great and for two centuries was
firmly established in influential financial circles of the empire. Rais had a special
interest in the newly annexed frontier territories and arrived in Khotinshina in the
retinue of Emperor Nicholas I in 1812. However, the process of radicalisation of
financial capital was so sluggish that it was difficult to overcome the competition of
local Jewish capital. However, it was this competition that became positive for the
economic development of the city itself. After the construction of the Shabelman’s
Palace, Rais was sure to buy a plot of land nearby and decided to build a bank room
as a counterbalance.

Architectural style - early modern style. Later, a brick-style service building was
built at the back end of the plot. In 1943, the Gendarmerie Legion was located here,
as well as in the palace, and after the war the Khotyn branch of the regional State
Bank.
The house is one-storey, with a basement, almost square in plan (without an
annex)
The walls in the interior were painted with vegetable ornaments and oil paint.
The bank's equipment includes old safes and cabinets. There were cookers with
highly artistic lining - heating was replaced by water.
In 1977, the building was completed inland, which deprived the premises of the
gracefulness inherent in the architectural style of the early modern style.