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| Bratislava Castle Bratislavský hrad | |
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Bratislava Old TownSlovakia | |
.JPG) Bratislava castle | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Castle |
| Controlled by | Great Moravia,Kingdom of Hungary,Czechoslovakia, Slovakia |
| Open to the public | outdoor areas nonstop, opening hours apply to the museum |
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| Site history | |
| Built | 9th–18th centuries Rebuilt in 1956–1964 |
| Events | Notable events in the castle's life:
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Bratislava Castle (Slovak:Bratislavský hrad,IPA:[ˈbracislawskiːˈɦrat]ⓘ;German:Pressburger Burg;Hungarian:Pozsonyi vár) is the main castle ofBratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The massive rectangular building with four corner towers stands on an isolated rocky hill of theLittle Carpathians, directly above theDanube river, in the middle of Bratislava. Because of its size and location, it has been a dominant feature of the city for centuries.
The location provides excellent views of Bratislava,Austria and, in clear weather, parts ofHungary. Many legends are connected with the history of the castle.
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The following are at the castle site:
The castle building includes four towers (one on each corner) and a courtyard with an 80 m (260 ft) deep water well. The largest and tallest tower is the Crown Tower, on the southwest corner. The 47 m (154 ft) tower dates from the 13th century and for approximately 200 years, beginning in the mid-1500s, housed thecrown jewels of Hungary.[1] The exterior walls and inside corridors contain fragments of oldGothic andRenaissance construction elements. The walled-up entrance gate from the 16th century is still visible to the east of the main hall/entrance.
Behind the entrance is an arcade corridor leading to a largeBaroque staircase which, in turn, leads to the exhibitions of theSlovak National Museum on the second floor. The west wing of this floor houses the four halls of the Treasure Chamber (opened in 1988), with a collection of the most precious archaeological finds and other objects of Slovakia, including the prehistoric statue called theVenus of Moravany. The third floor houses an exhibition on the history of Slovakia. The first floor in the south wing of the building houses the rooms of Slovak parliament —theNational Council of the Slovak Republic—including furnishings from the 16th century. The northern wing of the building, the former Baroque chapel, houses the Music Hall, in which concerts are held. The courtyard includes the entrance to the Knights Hall.
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To the west of the main building is the newly reconstructedF. A. Hillebrandt building, which dates from 1762 and was destroyed by the 1811 fire. The Yard of Honor, the space directly before the castle entrance, dates from the late 18th century.
Inside the Sigismund Gate and below the Court of Honor is the Leopold Yard with bastions, constructed in the 17th century.
To the east of the castle building, the constellation of theGreat Moravian basilica (9th century), the Church of StSavior (11th century), and other early medieval objects is indicated on the ground. The true archaeological findings are directly below this indicated constellation.
Adjacent to the Nicholas Gate, a Gothic gateway from the 15th century in the northeast quadrant, is the LugilandBastion. This is a long three-floor building from the 17th century that currently houses the National Council of the Slovak Republic and a Baroque stable (today a restaurant). AFrench baroque garden is located to the south of the stable.
The northern border of the site is formed by a long Baroque building from the 18th century, which today houses the Slovak National Museum and the castle administration.
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The castle's site, like today's city, has been inhabited for thousands of years, because it is strategically located in the center of Europe at a passage between theCarpathians and theAlps, at an importantford used to cross theDanube river, and at an important crossing of central European ancient (trade) routes running from theBalkans or theAdriatic Sea to theRhine river or theBaltic Sea, the most important route being theAmber Route.
The people of theBoleráz culture (the oldest phase of theBaden culture) were the first known culture to have constructed settlements on the castle hill. This happened around 3500 BC (i.e., in the highEneolithic Period). Their "castle" was a fortified settlement and a kind ofacropolis for settlements in today's Old Town of Bratislava.
Further major findings from the castle hill are from theHallstatt Period (EarlyIron Age, 750 –450 BC). At that time, the people of the Kalenderberg Culture[clarification needed] constructed a building plunged into the rock of the castle hill. Again, the "castle" served as an acropolis for settlements found in the western part of the Old Town.
During theLa Tène Period (Late Iron Age,Celtic Period, 450 BC –1 BC), the castle hill became an important center of the Celts. In the last century BC (after 125 BC), it served as the acropolis of an oppidum (town) of the CelticBoii. A great number and diversity of findings (including coins, house equipment, two Roman buildings, castle entrance gate, etc.) testifies to this.
The castle hill, which was situated at the Danube and thus since 9 BC at the border of theRoman Empire, was also settled by the Romans during the Roman Period (1st to 4th century AD), as findings of bricks ofRoman legions (Legion XIII GAN, Legion X GEPF etc.) and some parts of architecture (a Roman figural relief, roof parts, etc.) suggest.
The developments in the 5th century (the time of theGreat Migration of Peoples) are largely unclear.
The situation changed with the arrival of theSlavs in the territory of Bratislava. Initially, they partly used older Roman and Celtic structures and added some fortifications. Probably at the end of the 8th century (definitely not later than in the early 9th century), at the time of thePrincipality of Nitra, a Slavic castle with a wooden rampart was constructed, with a huge area of 55,000 square metres. In the second half of the 9th century, at the time ofGreat Moravia, a palace of stone surrounded by dwellings and a bigbasilica were added.
The basilica is the largest Great Moravian basilica from the territory of Slovakia, and the area of the castle is approximately the same as that of theMikulčice site (the historical town "Moravia"), which is the most important Great Moravian archaeological site.
Material from old Roman buildings was used to construct this Slavic castle in Bratislava. This could be a confirmation of the disputed statement ofAventinus from the 16th century, who—referring to lost sources—claimed that around 805/7, the Great Moravian prince Uratislaus (i.e., Vratislav) constructed today's Bratislava (castle?) at the place of a destroyed Roman frontier fort called Pisonium, and the new settlement was named after him, Uratislaburgium/Wratisslaburgium. Another probable fact is that around 900, the castle and the territory it controlled was given infief to Predslav, the third son of the Great Moravian kingSvatopluk I and that Pre(d) slav, or a person of the same name, is the person after which the castle and the town received its old German namePressburg (from which the old Slovak namePrešporek is derived).
The oldest version of this name wasPreslava (Slovak) /Preslav(a) sburg (German). It appeared for the first time in 907 (Battle of Pressburg) in the formsBrezalauspurc(h),Braslavespurch, andPressalauspruch, and then around 1000 onHungarian coins asPreslav(v) a Civitas (meaning Bratislava Castle). On the other hand, the exact location ofBrezalauspurc is still disputed.
The construction of a new castle of stone started in the 10th century, but work lagged. UnderKingStephen I of Hungary (1000–1038), however, the castle was already one of the central castles of theKingdom of Hungary. It became the seat ofPozsony county and protected the kingdom againstBohemian (Czech) and German attacks (e.g., in 1030, 1042, 1052, 1108, 1146) and played an important role in throne struggles, such as the one following the death of Stephen I. In 1052,Henry III tried to occupy the castle. According to Hungarian tradition,Zothmund, a Hungarian soldier, swam to the ships of the invading fleet to drill holes in them, and they were sunk. KingSolomon of Hungary had lived here until he was taken to the jail ofNitra, according toLadislaus I's order. At the same time, the old rampart was modernized, and the Church of the St. Savior, with achapter and a church school, were added.Stephen III of Hungary escaped from his enemies to the castle almost 100 years later.
The castle was turned into a proto-Romanesque palace of stone in the 12th century (probably after 1179), possibly becauseBéla III (1173–1196) decided to makeEsztergom the definitive seat of kings of Hungary. It was a palace similar to those constructed in Germany underFriedrich Barbarossa. In 1182,Friedrich Barbarossa gathered hiscrusader army under the castle. The church institutions and building at the castle were moved to the town below the castle in the early 12th century.
The well-fortifiedPressburg castle was among the few in the Kingdom of Hungary to be able to withstandMongol attacks in 1241 and 1242. As a reaction to these attacks, a huge "tower for the protection of the kingdom" was constructed at the castle building in 1245, immediately next to two older palaces. The tower was actually a huge residential building. In addition, seven square towers were built into the old rampart, and a stone wall was added around the castle proper (i.e., the residential building). The biggest of the rampart towers was at the same time a corner tower of the stone wall. Today, it is part of the castle building—it is identical to the present-day "crown tower", which is the largest of the four existing towers of the structure. It was probably built around 1250, when theKnights of St. John were active at the castle.
On 25 October 1265, the Czech king,Přemysl Otakar, and the Hungarian kingBéla IV's grandchildKunigunde, were engaged here.Andrew II andGertrude's daughter,Elisabeth was born here. The new castle faced further conflicts. In 1271, kingOtakar II of Bohemia invaded Hungarian territory (today's western Slovakia) and charged the knight Egid with the administration of the conquered castle. Egid rebelled two years later and was defeated, but due to problems in Bohemia, Otakar had to leave this territory. In 1285–86, the nobleNicholas Kőszegi occupied the castle in order to use it as a basis for a rebellion against the Hungarian king, but he was defeated. Shortly afterwards, in 1287–1291, the Austrian dukeAlbert of Habsburg, supporting Nicholas, occupied the castle but was defeated byMatthew III Csák, who was made head of Pozsony county. A successful Austrian occupation of the castle and the county occurred in 1302–1312/1322 byDuke Rudolf.
As a result of this permanent fighting, the Hungarian king granted the city rights (town charter) to a part of the settlements below the castle in 1291, thereby withdrawing them from the authority of the county head in the castle. Some settlements on the castle hill remained under the castle's authority, and the fortification was gradually extended to them.
In 1385, kingSigismund of Luxembourg occupied the castle and Pozsony county and one year later put the county inpawnage to his cousins, the Moravianmargraves Prokop and Jošt, in exchange for a loan. The castle was reconquered byStibor of Stiboricz in 1389, who was made the head of Pozsony county in 1389–1402 as a reward. He had a chapel built in Bratislava Castle.
Another ally of king Sigismund, especially in his fights against the CzechHussites, was the noble family Rozgonyi, which received the Pozsony county head function in 1421. At some point between 1420 and 1430, Sigismund (Holy Roman Emperor) decided to make Bratislava Castle –due to its central location —the center of his new German-Czech-Hungarian empire. In 1423, the king ordered the Rozgonyis to improve the fortifications of the castle as a protection against Hussite attacks, because it was situated close to the Czech border and was only protected by the old wooden ramparts. This was replaced with a stone bulwark. Between 1431 and 1434, a total rearrangement of Pressburg castle took place. Experts from Germany were invited, material was transported from Austria, and towns were imposed special taxes specifically for the construction of the largest castle ever built. The construction master was Konrad von Erlingen. The residential "tower" was demolished, and the form of the new Gothic palace was approximately similar to that of the present-day castle (but without two towers). Today, the only completely preserved part of the castle from that time is the Sigismund Gate (wrongly called the Corvinus Gate), i.e., the eastern entrance gate in the bulwark. Smaller parts have been preserve in the main palace. Sigismund's plans, however, did not materialize, because the castle never became his residence, and he remained in the town below the castle.
After Sigismund's death in 1437, his widow,Barbara of Celje, was imprisoned in the castle by the new king, Albert of Habsburg. In 1438, Albert's daughter,Anne, was engaged to the margraveWilliam III, Landgrave of Thuringia in the castle.John Hunyadi and his wifeErzsébet Szilágyi also stayed here. Later on,Ladislas the Posthumous possibly lived in the castle (parts of it were adapted for him). In 1440–1443, there was fighting between Pressburg Castle, ruled by county heads from the Rozgonyi family (supporting kingWładysław III of Poland) and the town of Pressburg itself. Castle repairs were conducted in 1438, 1452, and 1463. A water well was constructed in the yard of the castle in the 15th century.
In 1536 (de facto already in 1531), after theTurks had conquered present-day Hungary, Pressburg became the capital (seat of thediet and central authorities, place of coronations) of the remaining Kingdom of Hungary, which was renamedRoyal Hungary and was ruled by the AustrianHabsburgs. Consequently, Pressburg Castle became the most important royal castle and the formal seat of the kings of Royal Hungary (who, however, resided in Vienna normally). At the same time, from the beginning of the 16th century, Pressburg and its castle had to face various anti-Habsburg uprisings in Royal Hungary on the territory of what is now Slovakia. For example, troops ofGabriel Bethlen occupied the castle between 1619 and 1621, when it was reconquered byHabsburg troops, and had the royal crown removed from Pressburg Castle until 1622. Between 1671 and 1677, Pressburg Castle was home to a court against theProtestants and participants of anti-Habsburg uprisings.Imre Thököly, the leader of another major anti-Habsburg uprising, failed to conquer the castle in 1682–83.
Between 1552 and 1784, theHoly Crown of Hungary stayed in the castle. Two Hungarian crown guards, fifty Hungarian and fifty Austrian infantry soldiers cared for it. Hungarian kings who derived from foreign dynasties as Habsburgs could not possess it and only had access to the crown during their coronation ceremony.
Immediately after the defeat of the Kingdom of Hungary at thebattle at Mohács in 1526, during which the king died, the queen—Maria of Habsburg—fled with her retinue fromBuda to Pressburg. The royal treasure (mostly valuable objects of art, the royalscepter,apple, and sword) and many other important objects she has taken with her were deposited in Pressburg Castle and guarded by the royalburgrave John Bornemisza. Shortly afterwards, however, this precious treasure was mostly destroyed by the new kingFerdinand I of Habsburg, who needed it to finance his participation in a civil war in Royal Hungary, and smaller parts went to the Treasury Chamber of Vienna (Wiener Schatzkammer) or became personal property of Maria, or were lost forever.
Taking into account the new role of the castle, Ferdinand I had it rebuilt into a Renaissance castle by Italian builders and artists, such as Giulio Licino da Pordanone and Maciotanus Ulisses from Rome, between 1552 and 1562 (with some work continuing even afterwards). The main designer and supervisor of the construction was the Italian architect Pietro Ferrabosco, who had been serving the emperor in Vienna and knew Count Eck Salm, the captain of Pressburg from 1552 –1571. The building's form did not change (except that the entrance was shifted), but it was completely changed inside and outside. Above all, floors and rooms were rearranged, and most rooms received precious ornaments. In the late 16th century, a building for ball games at the eastern wall and a second, better water well were added. Other improvements were made and structures added over the years.
In terms of the castle's functions after 1530, it was home to selected participants of diet meetings, and since 1552, it has held thecrown jewels, in what is today known as the Crown Tower.
Since some of the Renaissance changes were done in haste (especially the wooden roof), as early as in 1616, a new, gradual EarlyBaroque reconstruction started, based on a design by the main imperial architectGiovanni Battista Carlone. The works were intensified in 1635 and finished around 1647. It was mostly financed by CountPaul Pálffy, the captain of the castle and head of Pozsony county. The look the castle received through this conversion is basically the one it has kept to the present. The northern and western part of the main building were newly built and a new, third floor was added; the main entrance was shifted back to the middle of the wall; the ancient fortifications were improved; the chapel was shifted from the southern part to the northern part (today's Music Hall); and two new towers were added—yielding in sum the present four towers in the corners. As a reward for not having misappropriated state funds during the conversion, the diet appointed Pálffy lifelong captain of Pressburg Castle, head of Pozsony county, andusufructuary of the castle (which remained in possession of the crown), in 1650. One year later, the emperor made those functions and titles hereditary for the Pálffys.
In 1653, all wooden ceilings turned out to be defective and had to be replaced in the following years, so that precious paintings placed on them got lost. Ten years later, facing one of the frequent Turkish attacks to the territory of Slovakia, the fortifications were improved under the leadership of military engineer Josef Priami of the Imperial Court in Vienna; further improvements of the fortifications followed around 1673. They ended with the final defeat of the Turks at Vienna in 1683. In 1703, barracks were built in the northeast of the site, and the armoury was turned into barracks as well. The present-day Vienna Gate was constructed on the occasion of the coronation of EmperorCharles VI in 1712, and it has been used as the main entrance to the castle since then.
WhenMaria Theresa of Austria became the queen of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1740, she promised to the nobles of the kingdom that she would have a residence both in Pressburg and in Austria. A corresponding conversion of the defensive castle into a modern royal residence was performed between 1761 and 1766.
Minor changes were made as early as 1740: besides various changes in the interior, a large garden was added in the northern part of the site, and EmperorFrancis I (Maria Theresa's husband, who was interested in botany) created a small garden to the east of the castle building. The chief designer until 1757 wasJ. B. Martinelli.
Major changes inside the castle (in therococo style) were begun in 1760. The chief designer between 1761 and 1762 wasFranz Anton Hillebrandt. A new single-story building for the kitchen, servants, and horses was added to the western wall of the castle. Because the water supply for the castle was not sufficient, Maria Theresa hadJohann Wolfgang von Kempelen build a special water pipe drawing water from a tank in the town at the Danube bank, using pumps. The stairs throughout the castle were rebuilt with a lower gradient, on Maria Theresa's request, to enable her to ride her horse upon them. The result of these changes, as for the exterior of the palace itself and the site gates, was very similar to Bratislava Castle as it stands today.
Due to disputes withHungarian nobles, Maria Theresa did not appoint apalatine, who used to represent the nobles, and instead in 1765 appointed a governor for the Kingdom of Hungary, who obeyed the queen. Bratislava Castle became his seat, and the office of the county head left the castle. The second governor wasAlbert of Saxe-Teschen, from 1765, the queen's son-in-law—the husband of her favorite daughter,Marie Christine of Austria. Albert and Maria Christine moved to the castle in 1766. Since both of them were promoters of culture and science, the castle and the town became places of frequent events and visits in the sphere of culture and science.
Because the governor did not have enough space, a new palace (later called the Theresianum) was built at the eastern wall of the castle building in 1767–1770, designed byF. A. Hillebrandt in theclassic style. Its furnishings were expensive and precious and included hundreds of objects of art. The first floor was home to a family gallery, which later became the basis of today'sAlbertina Gallery in Vienna.[2]
In addition, a winter riding school was added at the northern end of the castle site, a summer riding school was situated directly in the castle yard, both castle gardens were adapted (in theSchönbrunn style), and night lighting using oil lanterns was introduced on the access road to the castle for the first time in history. In 1770, Maria Theresa herself ordered further valuable paintings and furniture to be provided to both the main castle and the Theresianum, and the governor moved into the completed building.
The office of governor of the Kingdom of Hungary was re-abolished in 1781 by the new king,Joseph II, and Albert of Sachsen-Teschen left the castle and took many parts of the equipment away. The (present-day Albertina Gallery) art collection went partly to Vienna and partly to Belgium, where Albert became a new governor. Other objects moved mostly to Vienna. In 1783, Pressburg ceased to be the seat of central authorities of the kingdom; they were moved to Buda (nowBudapest). The crown jewels of the Kingdom of Hungary were moved to theHofburg in Vienna.
In 1784, the Theresianum, some other secondary buildings of the site, and the gardens were adapted, as the castle became a "general seminary", which was a type of state school forCatholic priests introduced by Joseph II. The general seminary of Pressburg Castle played an important role in Slovakia's history, having educated many important Slovak intellectuals, such asAnton Bernolák, the author of the first successful codification of theSlovak standard language.
In 1802, the general seminary moved to another place, and the castle was assigned to the military as a barracks. This was the beginning of its end. The rococo interiors of the castle were adapted in order to house some 1,500 soldiers. In 1809, Pressburg and the castle were bombarded byNapoleon's troops. On 28 May 1811, the castle burst into flames caused by carelessness of garrison soldiers; the fire spread to parts of the town.
The destroyed castle gradually deteriorated, and the military sold parts of the main buildings as construction materials to the surrounding areas. Between the twoworld wars, attempts were made to demolish the castle to build government offices and a university district on the castle hill and in its surroundings in the firstCzechoslovak Republic and the firstSlovak Republic. Many parts of the site continued to be used as barracks and adapted accordingly until 1946.
In 1946, the ruin was opened to the public. Two years later, the town constructed anamphitheater in the northern part of the castle site; this remained in use for some fifteen years. Films were shown there in the summer.[3]
Finally, it was decided to restore the castle. Archaeological and architectural research started in 1953, and long restoration works began in 1957. The restoration was done to the last (Baroque) state of the main building, but at many places, older (Gothic, Renaissance) preserved elements or parts have been restored. The Theresianum has not been renovated, and the F. A. Hillebrandt building of 1762 was restored only around the year 2000. The Slovak painterJanko Alexy gained recognition for his work on the castle. Construction was halted in August 1968, when the castle was occupied byWarsaw Pact troops as part of thePrague Spring. On 28 October 1968, however, the Federation Law, turning the centralist state ofCzechoslovakia into a federation of aCzech Socialist Republic and aSlovak Socialist Republic, was signed in the Federation Hall of the castle. On 3 September 1992, the newconstitution of independent Slovakia was signed in the Knights Hall.
Since 1968, the castle has housed exhibitions of theSlovak National Museum, and at the same time, its rooms have been used by theNational Council of the Slovak Republic for presentation purposes. A new restoration has been planned for years, because since 1968, only minor adaptations have been performed, such as the 1988 creation of the Treasure Chamber, the 1995 replacement of glass in the arcades of the solemn staircase, and the 1996–97 complete repair of the roof. The last minor adaptations occurred on the occasion of theBush-Putin Bratislava summit, in February 2005. A massive reconstruction was started in 2008 and was expected to last five years and cost 1.5–2 billionSlovak korunas (47.06–62.75 millioneuro).[4]
On 6 June 2010, the reconstruction of the Honorary Courtyard of Bratislava Castle was completed, with a nationally televised unveiling ceremony of an equestrian statue ofSvatopluk I by sculptor Ján Kulich.
Works cited
References
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