The ball house is an edifice made up of three 16th-17th century constructions: a residential building, a section of the town wall, and the so-called Lombai Tower.
The building was completed in 1795 in Baroque style, and it soon started to function as the second ball house of the community (the first being the Lábas House on Jurisics Square). It took quite an investment to extend the facility and turn it into a large dance and theatre hall as well as a catering establishment. For decades there were films shown and musical events performed in the ball house making it an important cultural centre and social venue for the local community. In the 19th century, contemporary great writers’ plays were performed here including those of Ignác Nagy, Károly Kisfaludy or Ede Szigligeti, but the period’s celebrated actress, Déryné Róza Széppataki, also played on this stage. The most renowned celebrity appearing in the ball house was composer Franz Liszt, when he visited Kőszeg at the age of 35 at the end of a long European concert tour in 1846. The tour was a great success and Liszt was received with immense enthusiasm. The pianist was awarded with honorary citizenship in Budapest; he performed in Sopron, Eisenstadt, and visited Kőszeg as part of this tour in September 1846. On his arrival, Liszt was greeted with standing ovation; at his accommodation at the White Horse Inn, he was served a festive lunch. During the meal Kálmán Chernel was seated next to him who later gave a full account of the event. Liszt’s concert was staged on 27 September.
Liszt preferred to play in spacious, well-illuminated halls, which usually meant the great halls of town halls; in Kőszeg the organisers chose the great hall of the Ball House. During the concert he gave three solo performances and, in line with the requirements of the era, he played popular Hungarian tunes.
The Ball House also served as a cinema between 1913 and 1950, the town movie operated under different names (Elektro Bioskop, Downtown Movie, Liberty Cinema, among others). During this period, it operated as a small private enterprise, but with the growing popularity of the motion picture its significance and prominence was also rising and therefore its survival and continuous development remained an important public cause.
