Bratislava: A City of Charm & Culture
Bratislava is a lesser known jewel of Central Europe. This charming city, just an hour's boat shuttle from Vienna, was always a draw. The Celts then the Romans settled here, followed by the Slavs in the 5th century AD. Early in the 10th century the Slavs were conquered by the Magyars (Hungarians), and Bratislava and the rest of Slovakia remained under foreign control for over 1000 years. The Turks came as conquerors in the 16th century, and after the Battle of Mohacs in 1526, they took most of the country. All that was left of Hungary was a slip of land bordering the Habsburg imperial capital of Vienna, under whose protection it fell, and from 1536 until 1783 Bratislava was the capital of the severely truncated country.
Only in 1918 did Slovakia regain partial independence from the Habsburg Empire. It joined its Slavic brothers in the north to become part of the state of Czechoslovakia, with Bratislava serving as the capital city of the Slovak province. After the debacle of WWII, there followed the long years of Soviet control until the Velvet Revolution of 1989. Finally in 1993 came the Velvet Divorce, when Slovakia peacefully separated from the state of Czechoslovakia, and Bratislava again became capital of a sovereign state.
After this introduction to the history of Slovakia, our excellent guides led us through the streets and alleyways of Bratislava, showing us the major sites of interest and giving us running commentary on everyday life in this city of 450,000 inhabitants. We also learned that the local citizens have a wonderful sense of humor. Throughout town there are delightful bronze statues in odd poses such as a paparazzo and Hans Christian Andersen, who visited the city. Among the other amusing statues were a man holding a hat which people stood under, a Napoleonic soldier hanging over a bench, and a "peeper" whose head and shoulders were emerging from a manhole in the sidewalk.
Famous personalities associated with the city are Mozart, Liszt, Beethoven, the Bratislava born composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and Andy Wahrhol. Our guides also explained to us that Bratislava has long been a multicultural city, and we saw signs on buildings in three languages: Slovak, Hungarian and German. The city is still known by its three traditional names: Pozony (Hungarian), Pressburg (German) and Bratislava (Slovak). Today many people speak these languages, as well as English.
After the city tour some of our group followed Lucy and Ray Russell to see the famous 17th century English tapestries in the Primate's House recounting the story of the tragic lovers Hero and Leander. It was in this beautiful building where the Treaty of Pressburg was signed in 1805, ending the war between Austria and France. Later some of us sampled the exquisite thick hot chocolate offerings at Maximilian's Chocolate Cafe. Before departure we were offered a salon concert on the River Cloud by Afrodite Five, a group of five young women in lovely white gowns, who played a program of popular music with grace and charm. It was a delightful ending to a fascinating morning prior to sailing down the Danube toward Budapest.
