Bratislava History

History

It’s hard to believe the capital of Slovakia hasn’t been Slovak for very long. Officially, ‘Bratislava’ came into existence only in 1919; for 700 years preceding that it was known as Pressburg (in Austrian German) or Pozsony (in Hungarian) and the population had a very international flair.

The site of the city has been inhabited, more or less, for the past 4000 years. In the 2nd century AD it was the Romans, in the 5th century the first Slavs arrived, and by the 10th century the Magyars (Hungarians) had taken over (and would stay until WWI).

In 1465 King Matthias Corvinus founded the first university in the Hungarian Kingdom, the Academia Istrpolitana, in Bratislava. Then came the invading Turks, and the Hungarian capital was hurriedly moved from Budapest to Bratislava in 1536. Wealthy burghers and Viennese aristocrats built grand palaces, many of which still stand today. Musical life flourished; frequent visitors included Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and, later, Liszt. Although the Austrian Hapsburgs finally retook Budapest in 1686, Hungarian royalty continued to be crowned in Bratislava’s St Martin’s Cathedral until 1830.

It was in the 19th century that Slovak national awareness began to grow; one of its leading literary figures, Ľudovít Štúr, lived and published in this city. In 1848 Ferdinand V signed his name to one of Štúr’s demands: the abolition of serfdom.

Despite, or perhaps because of, a subsequent policy of Hungarianisation in schools and government, Slovak intellectuals cultivated ties with the Czechs, and after WWI the city, with its Slovak name Bratislava, became part of the new Czechoslovakia.

Bratislava’s dress rehearsal as a national capital came in March 1939, when leaders set up Slovakia as a fascist puppet state and a German ally. It was not, however, a populist move and in August 1944 Slovak partisans instigated the ill-fated Slovenské Národné Povstanie (Slovak National Uprising; SNP), a source of ongoing national pride (and innumerable street names).

In the 1970s Bratislava was ruthlessly modernised. The New bridge (Nový most) overpass was built over the bulldozed remains of the city’s old Jewish quarter, and Petržalka’s vast tower blocks began to replace the villages on the south side of the Danube.

Bratislava once again became a capital city in 1993 with the creation of the independent Slovak Republic, and the old town got a new coat of paint.

Good thing EU membership came when it did in May 2004, because buildings were already starting to show wear.

Money is once again pumping into the city, though, and new facilities will be going up over the next few years in preparation for Bratislava’s hosting of the ice hockey World Cup in 2011.