Thanks to the role of Pula as the main war harbour in the Austro- Hungarian Monarchy  and the second largest garrison in the Austrian part of the Monarchy, ¼ of its citizens was made up of military class in the early 20th century( total number of inhabitants was about 36 000 in 1900). According to Austrian tradition, a large number of higher ranking officers were members of the aristocracy and nobility. In 1870, a Marine Casino (Marine- Kasino- Verein) was founded for those members and their families, and for prominent  employees of the Austro- Hungarian Marine. This association built the great social building of the Casino (Marine- Kasino) in 1872, according to the blueprint of the Munich architect Friedrich Adam. Such development was encouraged by the eminent admiral Wilhelm von Tegettholf (1827- 1871), who was commander of the Marine at the time, and for the purpose of organizing the social life of officers, highly educated Marine employees and their families. That was the sole purpose of the coffee- house and the restaurant, the ball room, the library and other rooms of the Casino, which were primarily intended for comfort, culture and entertainment.

A marine chapelmaster, later to become a famous opera composer, Franz Lehar (1870- 1948) performed in that Casino from 1894 to 1896. He composed his first opera there, ''General Kukuška''. The emperors Franjo Josip I, Karlo and the German emperor Wilhelm were all guests of the Marine Casino, together with the Austrian archduke Stefan (1860- 1933), who built the residential palace opposite the Casino.

Today this building belongs to the Ministry of Defence and is called The Defenders of Croatia Domicile or the Armed Forces Domicile. The building is open to visitors and is host to many cultural programs- exhibitions, book promotions and the Book Fair, concerts and lectures.

On the first floor there are two libraries: The Military Library, which belongs to the  Ministry of Defence, and The Marine Library, which used to be the central library of the imperial and the royal Marine.