Iron Stump House

The Iron Stump House, which is the home of the Imre Patkó collection, was built at the end of the 17th century, and although it is dwarfed by the neighboring classicist palace, it was among the highest at the time of its construction. It was one of the first two-story buildings in the city. On the house, we can already discover the square closed balcony, which is so characteristic of Győr Baroque architecture, which was replaced on the facade of Stelczer Lajos Street. The special feature of the house is the two-story, cylindrical corner balcony, which is held by a row of stone guardians with radial line. We only know a few similar buildings in Győr.

Among the former owners of the plot on the main square, we also find two city judges, which - considering the proximity of the old town hall - we cannot be surprised. At the beginning of the 17th century, the house was owned by Gergely Szőts, and then at the beginning of the 18th century, by Orbán Gindl, which the latter certainly used in its two-story form as known today. However, the reputation of the apartment building is not so much due to the city judges, but rather to the iron stump placed on the corner of the building, into which, according to legend, it was guilded roaming lads before leaving Győr.

The domestic iron stumps made in the first third of the 19th century can all be traced back to the Viennese model. In the Austrian capital, it has been similar since the 15th century at the intersection of Graben and Kärntner Strasse, into which thousands of iron nails have been hammered over the centuries. Written documents also prove that in the 18th century it was the custom of the blacksmiths traveling through the stump. In contrast to Vienna, in Hungary it was not the guild boys, but the merchants who spread the iron stew — and with it the legend. The stump was made by Mátyás Zittritsch as a company in 1829, and when he moved his business to a new location in 1833, he took it with him for the company, which eventually gave the building a name.

Since 1983, the atmosphere of the building, with its small spaces, narrow staircases, low ceiling height, and wooden beamed attic, has served as an excellent place for art collector Imre Patkó's contemporary fine art, Far Eastern and Oceanic collection.

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