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The former Town Hall (later the restaurant 'Lamb"), - which stood on the site of the present building in the
1800s - proved too small. The one-storey building with 5 windows had only 6 rooms - including the kitchen and the
prison. East of the building stood the house of the town clerk. The council decision of 23rd January 1867 ordered
the construction of a new Town Hall and a clerk's house on the site of the old clerk's dwelling and an inspection
committee was sent out to supervise the construction works. The ground floor accommodated 3 rooms facing the street
and one facing the courtyard, the first floor housed 2 -2 rooms facing alternatively the street and the courtyard,
plus a great hall. These rooms served the purposes of the police as well as housing the town offices.
Mayor István Németh's name is linked with Kaposvár's rapid development into a modern town. Therefore the new
Town Hall did not prove long-standing.
In the last decades of the 19th century the locals started to demand the development of the permanent townscape,
the town centre and the building of a new town hall. They demanded the Restaurant 'Lamb" and the two shabby little
buildings next to it to be pulled down.
It was decided at the meeting of the Town Council on 29 October 1900 that the Town Hall should be built on the old
site. The construction works started in the summer of 1902 based on the plans of Budapest architects, György Kopaczek
and Róbert Kertész.
The building contractors were Lipót Gráner & Son and Samu Fuchs of Zalaegerszeg. The new building was inaugurated
on March 15 1904.
The craftsworks were done exclusively by local craftsmen. The frescos were painted by Géza Udvary, well-known
artist of the time and the stained glass windows of the Ceremonial Hall are by the Miksa Róth workshop.
The wooden cover was made by Councillor Horváth and the Pintér joiner firm, and the tower clock is by the clock
maker Deutwyler F.E. The portrait of Lajos Kossuth in the big hall was painted by Béla Bacskay, who won this
commission in a competition with József Rippl-Rónai, who had already moved back from Paris by that time.
The extra tasks of the municipality made it necessary to extend the building. The 5-storey southern
wing was built by the Klinker Ltd. between 1994-95 based on the plans of Gábor Borbás of Kaposvár
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