A few years ago, I used to enjoy drinking beer in summer before gradually switching to ‘fröccs’, a mix of soda water and white wine. Among the mass-produced Hungarian beers, my favorite was Dreher, especially their dark beer called ‘Bak’ But why am I writing about my taste for beer? Because this beautiful building known as the ‘Dreher-Palota,’ located at Kossuth Lajos utca 4, was built for Antal Dreher Jr., the owner of the Dreher Breweries, which still exists but now belongs to the Japanese Asahi Group. Interestingly, I wrote just a few days ago about another building that used to be owned by a family involved in the beer brewing industry – the Haggenmachers.

The building was designed by József Hubert and Károly Móry and completed in 1888. The first decade of the life of this building was very eventful. Only 10 years after its completion, the construction of the Erzsébet bridge started, and the municipality decided to enlarge Kossuth Lajos utca. However, the Dreher-Palota was in the way, so it was decided to demolish the facade and all the apartments facing the street and reconstruct it a few meters farther. Interestingly, the cupola was also moved, and for that, for the first time in Hungary, a rail system placed on the top of the building was used. Unfortunately, the cupola was severely damaged during the war and demolished shortly after, just like the Erzsébet bridge, which was replaced by a new bridge in 1964.

I also found the following amusing anecdote: in the 1920s, passersby could sometimes hear in the night the sound of a French horn coming from the roof of the building. If they watched carefully toward the top of the Dreher-Palota, they could spot a man in white underwear playing the instrument. This man was called István Száder, and he was a musician at the Opera. He was known for his eccentric lifestyle and used to play the French horn on the top of the building after losing a bet.