On the southern part of today’s square stood the Quarterhouse, built in 1806, the so-called “Small County Hall”, which housed the office of the Chief Constable between 1871 and 1941. After 1945, one of the first public parks in Marcali was created on the site, which became vacant after demolition. In the middle of it, the statue called “The Accuser” by Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl was unveiled in December 1949 with the help of social collaboration. The man figure pointing to the “Red Stable”, one of the sites of the 1919 atrocities, reminded us of the victims who died for the local labor movement. Today, the work stands in Béke Park, near the Berzsenyi Dániel Town Library built in 1965-66, its new title is “Memento”.
On the northern part of the square stood the house of Mátyás Pfeffer, which was already owned by the grain merchant Jakab Krausz around 1900, and in the courtyard a granary was built. From the 1920s, the building with a shop and workshop belonged to master baker Rezső Müller. The first movie theater was built in its place in 1955. In 1970, the cinema was enlarged to accommodate up to 400 people. Film screenings were held there until 1995, when the building was demolished in 1996. The Hungária Shopping Centre was built on the site, and Künzelsau Square, named after Marcali’s German twin settlement, was created. The ceramic “Ornamental Fountain”, the work of Éva Ambrus, has stood here since 2002.
1.| The building of the office of the Chief Constable (Picture postcard detail, 1930s)
2.| Picture of the movie theater and the statue called “The Accuser” (Photograph: fortepan.hu, 1968)
3.| The rebuilding of the cinema and a picture of the former Schwetz House (Photograph, 1970)
4.| Künzelsau Square today (Photograph: Krisztián Horváth, 2020)
5.| The cinema building (Photo: dr József Gál, around 1990)
