The County Hall

At No. 54 stands one of the most beautiful Hungarian buildings built in secession style. The house of the former Hajdú County Hall was built in 1911-1912 following plans by Zoltán Bálint and Lajos Jámbor.

The first inn of Debrecen, the Fejérló Szálló (The White Horse Inn) stood on this site for a long time. The historical inner town extended up to this point, for here ended the 670 metre-long raised wooden walkway, which started from the Great Church and on which the town's residents were able to walk with dry feet even when mud covered everything. This wooden construction stood until 1824 when the main street was canalised. Parts of the walkway were uncovered by the workers of the Déri Museum during the 2002 excavations, and were put on display for the public in a container lowered into the ground in front of the Aranybika Hotel. On a stage in the court of Fejérló Szálló the National Theatre Company of Miklós Wesselényi put on Debrecen's first official performance of a play in Hungarian - a Hungarian version of Hamlet performed for the second time (the first time being in Kolozsvár on 11th August 1798). The performances were stopped by the fire of 1811.

In 1849 even Károly Boka, the famed leader of the gypsy band, moved here from the Aranybika to play the violin for Kossuth. In 1876 Debrecen became the administrative centre of Hajdú County. The county outgrew the former building and the new County Hall was built on its place. The facade is strongly proportioned with the Zsolnay pyrogranite decoration, the festoon of flowers and the statue of four armed Hajdú soldiers giving it great variety. On top of the ridge turret stands the bronze statue of Prince Árpád and in the centre of the facade is the coat of arms of Hajdú County. The ceremonial hall of the building is the Árpád Hall, the ceiling of which is ornamented by stucco-work and the coat of arms of the county's different towns. However, the most valuable feature is the coloured window-glass which was designed by Károly Kernstock and which portrays the seven leaders of the conquering Hungarians. The general assembly of the municipality takes place in the hall.

Forrás: www.debrecen.hu