The Balcony returns

Publicist Jānis Gabrāns writes in his forthcoming book on the houses of Cēsis, “Look into the Future of the Past”, that the story of the Konrāds House is one of change and survival. Its life story in brief is quite simple: “Built around the mid-19th century, it has changed owners many times over the course of its existence. The building has undergone renovations - both approved and unapproved - yet it has survived. For roughly the past 30 years, however, it awaited its saviors, as its technical condition steadily deteriorated. Like a wealthy bride, suitors appeared from time to time, promising a bright future, but disappeared as quickly as they came - until the building was acquired by "Mājas Cēsīs".

The Konrāds House was built in the mid-19th century; its construction took place at roughly the same time as the renovation of the church in the 1850s, when a new spire was erected by the local building contractor Mārcis Sārums. Under his direct supervision, many churches and manor houses in Vidzeme were built or rebuilt in the mid-19th century. His most outstanding work is the tower of St John’s Church in Cēsis, for the model of which he was awarded a small silver medal at an exhibition held in the House of the Black Heads in 1853. M. Sārums is buried in the Lower Cemetery in Cēsis.

The building’s best-known name, “Konrāds House,” originated after ownership rights were confirmed in 1902 to Matilde Pauline Emilie Konrad. This name has now been restored to honor.

As the building was located by the old market square, which functioned as the notional center of Cēsis, active commercial life always took place there. From the late 19th century onward, the entire ground floor was occupied by various shops, workshops, and retail spaces, which led to repeated alterations of the street façade, with openings on the first floor being converted from doors to windows and back again. In a photograph from the late 19th century, as many as five separate entrances facing the square can be seen.

An interesting historical note appears in the 3 November 1911 issue of the newspaper “Cēsu Ziņas”, which reports that at the beginning of that year, Cēsis’s first cinematograph - the “Pate Electro Cinema Theatre” - began operating in rented premises in the Konrāds House. Soon thereafter, three cinemas were operating in Cēsis: “Pate,” “Fars,” and “Lux.”