Franciszek Smolka, a Polish politician, lawyer and president of the Austrian parliament, lived for many years in Lviv, where he ran, among other things, a law office. His house was located on the pre-war square in the centre of Lviv, which was called Smolka Square (now General Hryhorenko Square).

Over the years, political and social initiatives and projects arose in this house, the most famous of which is the Lublin Union Mound he founded on the High Castle, visible from many points in Lviv.