Walk to former and current traditional catering hospitality sites

1. Jurisics Castle, Rájnis J. u. 9. GPS: 47.389670 / 16.538719

A little-known hospitality establishment in Kőszeg is the lord’s former public house in the Castle Garden. It was a continuous rival to establishments run by local citizens. It was a strong opponent as it sold the wine grown on the manor and the products of the castle brewery at a lower price. The town council tried to weaken its position with prohibitions, penalties and lawsuits. Residents were prohibited from visiting the public house, and even water supply for the brewery was blocked. In spite of prohibitions, the pub operated even in the second half of the 19th century because the citizens liked its services.

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Castle Jurisics is our largest historical memorial, where the late gothic and early renessiance castle corridor is one of the most beautiful of its kind within Hungary The former Landowner’s Castle surrounded by town-wall and the moat is situated in the north-western corner of the inner city. In the Castle Courtyard, the earliest remnants of the former pile-dwelling were found. After the Siege by the Tatars in mid-13th century, they started to build this lower castle in the valley beside the settlement. This lower castle substituted the former upper castle’s role in the middle age, as the upper old castle was too complicate to be approached for trade and administration.
The castle have two distinct parts: the Outer and the Inner Castle. The guards and the service personnel of the castle was settled in the buildings of the Outer Castle. At the end of the 13th Century its owner was the Heder family. Prince Habsburg Albert took the castle in 1289. Andrew III, the last king of the Hungarian Arpad House ruined the upper old castle int he Kőszeg hills, according to the terms of the Hainburg treaty.

In 1327 the Anjou king Carlo Roberto took the castle from the family Kőszegi after harsh years of fightings. He gave strong royal privilages to the town after his victory. Town walls with strong towers were built protecting Kőszeg against the onslaughts of the Austrians. The water of the river Güns (Gyöngyös) was directed into the moats around the castle walls. The castle went to the Garai family in 1392, then to the Habsburg family until the renessiance Hungarian King Mathias Corvinus took it back in 1482. The Habsburgs took Kőszeg again after the death of Mathias in 1492.

The most wellknown Siege of Kőszeg happened in 1532, when the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman attacked Kőszeg fiercly with his 80 thousands soldiers on his way to Wien. The Captain and Protector of the Castle, Nikolaus Jurisich has its sculpture today in the outer courtyard. Even today, there is a festive 11 o’clock bell-ring in Kőszeg conmemorating the ending of the month-long, unsuccessful Ottoman Siege in 1532.
A brick bridge over the moat leads us to the inner castle. Just next to the gate we can find the traditional herb-garden of the castle, together with a smal handicraft shop, the Nature Shop where one can buy the traditional products of the Kőszeg region and the Írottkő Nature Park. A nicely planned inner court receives us behind the gates. A rich Castle Exchibition is located in the southern and eastern wings. Centuries of Kőszeg exhibition, the Royal Crown Room, the Golden Room and Armoury awaits the visitors. The renessiance corridor and the Cavalier’s Room gives place to numerous cultural events and to various art exchibitions.

More information: www.jurisicsvar.hu

2. Former Ballroom, Schneller I. u. 2. GPS: 47.390442 / 16.540664

In 1792, Antal Haffenscherer decided to build a bigger ballroom for people seeking entertainment. He even edged the tower master’s widow out of her right to hold balls. The place had a great run, but it went bankrupt in a few decades. Until the beginning of the 1850s it was supervised by the town, and then was privatised again. In the 1930s Kőszeg Savings Bank developed a modern entertainment centre in the building. In the 1940s it was used by the Arrow Cross and then by the Communist Party. Then, for a few decades it was used for cultural and entertainment purposes again.

Despite its chaotic history, it played a significant role in the town’s cultural life. In addition to balls, theatre performances were held in German and Hungarian. Members of Kőszegi Hangász Association worked in the establishment. Franz Liszt had his concert in the building in 1846. On this occasion the Honour Citizen Award was granted to him. The local cinema worked in the building from the 1910s to the 1990s.

3. Bittner-féle Bálház, Jurisics M. tér 2. (The Footing House – Historical Archive of Kőszeg) GPS: 47.388729 / 16.541212

According to the rules in 1679, balls were organised during the time of the 4 national fairs. Young people gathered in the home of the annually elected dance master and his deputy. In 1774, music master Jakab József Bittner applied for permission to build rooms above the butcher’s shop next to the Lower Gate Tower. He established the town’s first ballroom there, which operated on a commercial basis. The guests paid admission fees and in return they received food, drinks alive music.

The founder’s widow closed it down in 1793. It has been operating as the Kőszeg Archives of Vas County since 1972.

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This is the only one double arcad building in Hungary. The back wall of this beautiful baroque building is the townwall itself. It was also the first ball-house in town. A second floor was built onto the former butchery in 1774. This second floor was standing on column-footing, so they call it „the footing house” ever since. The ball-house was operated by the tower-musicians who lived in the predecessor of the today’s Heroes Tower. Later it bacame a hasue for living, while today it hosts the historical Archive of Kőszeg, a unique collection of historical documents of the historical town – unparalleled in Hungary.

4. Gampert Coffee House, Városház u. 4. (Városház u. 4.) GPS: 47.388443 / 16.541287

In Kőszeg, the first license to offer coffee service was issued in 1717 to Károly Török and then in 1718 to János Károly. The first permanent coffee house was opened in 1783 by Károly Liebhard on the “back” of the moat leading past the town wall. The license cost 8000 forints. After only 2 years of operation of the business, he was forced to sell the building to Konrad Gampert, who arrived in the town from the German Empire and founded a coffee dynasty. He and his descendants ran the coffee business for more than 100 years. The coffee house was not only the place for drinking coffee but it also provided entertainment opportunities. A pool table was set up to entertain the guests and illegal card games were played as well.

The coffee shop closed down in 1912 but the memory of it is still alive in the town. Its cut glass window is one of the unique pieces of the Town Museum.

5. Egykori Arany Korona vendégfogadó, Fő tér (Jesus’ Heart Church) GPS: 47.387899 / 16.540970

In the town’s history, this is the third inn. Its predecessor worked in the later Kelcz-Adelffy Orphanage in the inner town. In 1749, Cartwright János Pintér applied for permission to open an inn in his own house. In 1751, he paid 400 forints to sell locally-produced wine for the price agreed upon by the local council. He restored the building and named it the Golden Crown.

The new owners of the hotel were the members of the Binder (Pintér) family for more than a century. The building then had 2 gates, a stable and a cart shed. Although the family modernized the building and they opened a coffee house, a reading room and rooms for playing billiards and cards, the hotel went bankrupt. On the site of the hotel the Sacred Heart Church was erected. While the hotel was being demolished, the image of the Hungarian crown was found on its facade.

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The neogothic historicizing Church with its 57 m tower is the highest building in town. Building works started in 1892 following the plans of Ludwig Schöne. Kőszeg has grown by the early 19th century, so a new and larger parish church was needed. In 1849 Johannes Győri local vicar dedicated most of his wealth to a new parish church. Presents and donations were collected for decades. Baron Phillip Schey, who donated the new Synagoge and the Lutheran church of the neighbouring city Szombathely, gave strong support to the initiatve. The site was bought in 1889: three former buldings, among them the Golden Crown Inn was buoght and ruined. Bulding works started in 1892 following the plans of Ludwig Schöne, the well known viannese architect of the age.

The 57m tower of the neogothic building is the highest manmade point in town. The tower can be visited twice a year, among the other hidden treasures of Kőszeg – end of March, and end of September. The majestic colourful inner painting of the church are due to Otto Kott, viannese master. He used more than 10.000 eggs for the paint! The furnishing is also valuable. Especially beautiful are the radiating stained-glass windows. Patron Saints of the donating families can be seen, among them almost a full pantheon of the Hungarian Saints. The Organ is the work of brother Rieger and was installed in 1894

6. Hotel to the Golden Ostrich, Várkör 124. GPS: 47.387815 / 16.541694

This historic hotel is probably the longest serving hotel in Hungary. In 1597 there was already an Inn here, as ever since always. The current name, the Golden Ostrich was given int he 17th century by the owner, András Somogyi. The very first pharmacy of Kőszeg was also opened her in 1645. In 1945 the soviet headquarters operated here, but shortly later it became again hotel and restaurant.

The aristocratic Hungarian elite had their meetings here against the Habsburg empire between 1665-1667. Wesselényi Ferenc palatine, gr. Nádasdy Ferenc national judge, Lippay György archbishop of Hungary, gr. Zrínyi Péter croatian ban (palatine), gr. Széchy Péter owner of Kőszeg castle and Vitnyédy István academic doctor of Law met and consulted here. Later, the documents of the empire called these noble men as conspirators. The accomodation and bording costs of these meetings was officially paid by the city of Kőszeg.

Further famous guests were Bittó István, Széll Kálmán later prime minister, gr. Apponyi Albert foreign minister and heroic defender of the Hungarian Kingdom after the first World War.

7. White Horse Inn, Rákóczi F. u. 1. GPS: 47.387777 / 16.541900

Although the year of its opening is unknown, it might have been built a bit later than the Golden Ostrich Hotel located opposite the White Horse Inn. Its owner had a notable affair with the poet and military leader Count Nikola Zrinski, who was denied accommodations at the inn while travelling through the town in 1660. As a result, the local council punished the owner severely. Some of the members of the Magnate Conspiracy, led by Ferenc Wesselényi, were accommodated in this hotel.

Guests could reach the inn through 2 gates. At the end of the 19th century, however, it functioned as a restaurant. At that time shops and flats were on the premises. In 1911, Kőszeg Savings Bank purchased the building, where they established the bank’s modern centre and later its headquarters. The beehive symbol of savings banks can be seen on the façade.

8. Deer Inn, Rákóczi F. utca 19. GPS: 47.386851 / 16.542374

At the end of the 18th century, this building was owned by one of the wealthiest families in Kőszeg. Butcher Péter Gerhauser applied for permission to establish an inn in 1787. In the following year in the Deer Inn acting ensemble entertained the guests. After the owner’s death, the Jewish Schey family shared ownership. It supposedly provided Kosher meals in the 1840s. During the Hungarian Reform Era, it was called the Golden Deer. In 1857, it was described as a two-storey building having a stable, and it had had tenants for a long time. Its first floor was most likely demolished, and after that only the restaurant operated. Unlike other inns in the town, it survived the hard times and operated under the same name until nationalization.

Many locals mistakenly identify the inn as the Deer Restaurant, which operated in the former Jurisics Hotel in the 1960s and 1970s.

9. Former Green Tree Inn, Rákóczi F. utca 79. GPS: 47.383664 / 16.547891

On the former Magyar street, Henrik Berger purchased a building from Mátyás Krukovits in the 1810s. In 1817, he bought the right to provide hospitality services from the municipality. The inn, which was later called Walnut Tree, could be reached through gates by travellers from Szombathely. The inn consisted of two buildings providing accommodations, a stable, and barns. Its ownership changed frequently during its operations. In 1890, in the first tourist leaflet, it was described as an inn providing lower-cost accommodations. The Biritz family bought the building in 1911, and it functioned as a pub until its nationalization. Its guild sign can be seen even today on the façade of the building.

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On the former Magyar street, Henrik Berger purchased a building from Mátyás Krukovits in the 1810s. In 1817, he bought the right to provide hospitality services from the municipality. The inn, which was later called Walnut Tree, could be reached through gates by travellers from Szombathely. The inn consisted of two buildings providing accommodations, a stable, and barns. Its ownership changed frequently during its operations. In 1890, in the first tourist leaflet, it was described as an inn providing lower-cost accommodations. The Biritz family bought the building in 1911, and it functioned as a pub until its nationalization. Its guild sign can be seen even today on the façade of the building.

10. Former White Rose Inn, Gyöngyös utca 19. GPS: 47.392027 / 16.541494

Located at the upper end of the inn district, this inn was established in 1801 by Sámuel Khern, who extended his houses for this purpose. The Black Eagle Inn was located only from a few hundred metres so its owner made every effort to weaken the new inn’s position. His fears were justified as he was the first to be forced to close his business in 1829.

Khern was more talented as he served not only travellers but also local people. He also gained permission to hold balls as the local council became aware of unwanted events in the Ballroom. In his inn, touring theatre companies performed for 2 decades. From the 1840s, it operated as a guest house and a restaurant and had permanent tenants. The Khern brothers left it to the Kőszeg Lutheran Church Building Fund, which sold the building in 1919. After its nationalization it functioned as a butcher’s shop.

Its construction, especially the two major gates, shows what an inn looked like at the end of the 19th century in Kőszeg. Its guild sign contains a two-headed eagle.