In the flourishing Secession period during the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Lviv was capital of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and an actively developing city. The discovery of oil and gas fields in the Precarpathian region in the mid-nineteenth century meant that foreign banks opened offices in Lviv. Meanwhile, developing educational institutions required dormitories to be built for students, as the city's population quickly grew. All of these factors led to a construction boom in Lviv, accompanied by the search for a new style. For the first time in Lviv's construction history, this new style came into fashion without delay, simultaneously with its appearance in Europe. It was dubbed the Secession, as it was called elsewhere in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Secession style in Lviv developed in two directions: internationally, imitating the European features of this style; and nationally, reflecting the folk architecture of the different nationalities – such as Poles, Jews and Ukrainians – living in Lviv at that time. So, Lviv's multinationalism became reflected in its architecture. For example, architect and entrepreneur Ivan Levynskyi founded an architectural bureau in 1881, bringing together a whole pleiad of young architects who designed numerous buildings in the Hutsul Secession style, such as the Dnister Insurance Company, the Gymnasium of the Ukrainian Pedagogical Society and so on. Motifs from the Polish folk style Zakopane were also popular in Lviv. Villa L. Heller, Villa Maria by N. Luszkiewicz, and a number of tenement houses have Zakopane features expressed in their richly carved wooden decor and sun motifs. The Jewish Secession was characterised by oriental ornaments, the wavy shape of the attics and other features related to their religious traditions.

Meanwhile, the international trend evolved from ornamental Secession (such as floral stucco ornaments) towards rational Secession (for example, Majolica panels) and late Secession, which we might call retrospective historicism. The Secession style in Lviv lasted from 1898 until World War I. After WWI, the Secession continued only in the works of J. H. Rosen, who created Secessionist paintings in the Armenian Cathedral from 1925 to 1929.

Nowadays, there are around 1000 Secession buildings in Lviv. Of these, 250 have the status of monuments of local significance. Numerous tenement houses, such as those commissioned by Stoff, Stromenger, Stauber and Segal, have preserved their original façade decorations along with some authentic features within their interiors. The former Chamber of Commerce and Industry (now the Regional Prosecutor's Office) conceals Secession paintings of a high artistic quality by Feliks Wygrzywalski. Other interiors containing well-preserved Secession paintings are located within S. Ludkevich Music College. Painted by the famous Ukrainian artist Modest Sosenko, they are considered to be some of the finest examples of national Ukrainian Secession art.

In Soviet times, many apartment buildings, including these Secession buildings, suffered greatly from the subdividing of apartments to divide them amongst several families. Authentic decorative elements were moreover stolen, destroyed, or the paintings were whitewashed over. Nevertheless, the number of real estate owners who are aware of the value of Secession architecture in Lviv is growing with each passing year. Despite limited financial resources many of them are keen to contribute in restoring these buildings' original appearance.