• Location: Main Street
• Foundation: 1787-1790
• Demolition: 1897
• Architect: Štefan Brocký, Jozef Ján Taller
• Style: Classicism

On the place where the famous Košice National Theatre is standing today was once a smaller but also very beautiful theatre. The constructions began in 1787, one year later it opened its gates to the public, but the building was not finished until 1790. The project was supervised by Štefan Brocký and Jozef Ján Tallher, the construction was led by Anton Schwaizer. With it, Košice got its first permanent theatre made of stone.

The Classicist building consisted of a coffee-house with billiard tables and a dining room, as well as a redoute and a smoking room in the Northern part and a theatre hall in the Southern part, both of which were connected by a hallway. In addition to the parterre, the theatre hall had three galleries with lodges and altogether a capacity of 500 visitors.

The first mentioned performance was Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio in 1789, the year of the French Revolution (Mozart was still alive at that time). At first, plays were only performed in German, from 1816 alternately in German and Hungarian. In 1828 a men’s casino was opened in the building where the high society of Košice met to play board games.

In 1884 a fire broke out during a performance. For security reasons, the theatre was closed in 1894 and eventually demolished in 1897. In January 1897, the city council approved a new theatre project by Adolf Láng which was opened on the 18th of September 1899.

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