The present square was formed on the site of a small lake that remained in the deeper part of the water moat which had previously protected the ramparts of the medieval town. A marketplace arose on the site of the dried-up lake. On its northern side, as early as the end of the 17th century, stood a house used for the sessions of the town council. In 1725 it was rebuilt and tiled. After the great damage caused by the earthquake of 1763, it was restored in 1766 and in the following year supplemented by a fire watchtower with a copper roof, on top of which the symbol of the Habsburg monarchy, a two-headed eagle made of sheet metal, was placed. After the fire of 1848 the building was again renovated, but it had to be enlarged, so in 1875 a floor was added and it received a new watchtower, thus creating the town hall in the form we know today. This rebuilding is commemorated by the Roman-numeral date below the tower. The building still serves today as the seat of the municipal office. Since New Year’s Eve 1999, in the window of its tower, between 10:00 and 16:00 at two-hour intervals, the figure of a hussar from 1848/49 appears and Klapka’s March is played, composed by the conductor of the local garrison’s music, Béni Egressy, after the last victorious battle of the fortress’s defenders in August 1849.