Bratislava

Old Town of Bratislava

Bratislava is the capital and largest city of Slovakia and has a population of approximately 450.000 inhabitants. Bratislava is situated at the Danube River, immediately at the state borders to Austria and to Hungary, and relatively close to the border of Czechia. It is located only some 60 km from Vienna (45 –65 minutes by train). The Carpathian Mountains begin in the town’s territory (Malé Karpaty („Small Carpathians“)). Bratislava ist the seat of the Slovak president, parliament and government. There are universities, relatively many museums, theaters and other cultural institutions (e.g. a famous philharmonic orchestra) in the town. Traditionally, the town has been influenced by several nations (the Austrians, Hungarians, Slovaks and others). As is common for former cities of the Austro-Hungarian Empire it had other names in common use until World War I: Pressburg (German, today still the official alternative German name), and Poszony (Hungarian).

Table of contents 1 History 2 Historic Personalities 3 Sights 4 Economy

History

• Paleolithic Age: hand-axes and other stone tools of the Homo erectus (about 450000 and about 300000 B. C.) and of the Neanderthal man
• New Stone Age: permanent settlements (Linear Ceramics Culture)
• 400-50 B. C.: Celts ; from 125 B. C. on an important celtic oppidum (fortified town) with a mint
• 1st century – 5th century : the border of the Roman Empire (Limes Romanus) runs right through the middle of today’s town; many Roman (e.g. “Gerulata“) and Germanic settlements
• around 500: arrival of the Slavs
• 9th century Great Moravian Empire
• 907 part of Hungary
• 1536-1784 capital of the Kingdom of Hungary (whose territory only consisted until 1699 of today‘s Slovakia and parts of today‘s Western Hungary, because the Turks ruled Buda at that time); the Kingdom of Hungary was part of the Habsburg (i. e. Austrian) Monarchy from 1526 to 1918
• 1536-1848 meeting place of the Hungarian Diet
• 1563-1830 coronation town for Hungarian kings (St. Martin’s Cathedral (see the picture))
• 1805: Peace of Pressburg (between Austria and France after Napoleon‘s victory in the Battle of Austerlitz)
• 1919 part of Czechoslovakia; official new name becomes „Bratislava“- instead of „Pressburg“ (German) / „Poszony“ (Hungarian)
• 1939-1945 the capital of Slovakia
• 1969-1992 the capital of the Federal State of Slovakia within Czechoslovakia
• 1993 the capital of Slovakia

Historic Personalities

Alexander Dubček

Sights

a picturesque old town with the St. Martin‘s Cathedral (see the picture), the Primate's Palace, the old town hall and the National Theatre; a (fortified) castle; another castle in ruins (Devín) is located at the confluence of the Danube with the March (Morava) River

Economy

mainly services, engineering (Volkswagen) and electrical industry; an important international road and railroad junction; "M. R. Štefánik" international airport; a river port.