The Grassalkovich Palace ( sk, Grasalkovičov palác) is a

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

and the residence of the president of Slovakia. It is situated on

Hodžovo námestie Hodžovo námestie ( en, Hodžovo Square, locally referred to as Hodžko or Mierko) is a major square in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The square is located at the edge of Old Town, in front of the Slovak Presidential Palace, some 5 minu ...

, near the Summer Archbishop's Palace. The building is a Rococo-late

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

summer palace with a

French garden The French formal garden, also called the (), is a style of garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. Its epitome is generally considered to be the Gardens of Versailles designed during the 17th century by the ...

History

The building was finished in 1760, by architect Anton Mayerhofer for Hungarian aristocrat

Antal Grassalkovich Anton Graf Grassalkovich ( Ürmény, 6 March 1694 – Gödöllő, 1 December 1771) was an Imperial Real Privy Councilor, President of the Royal Hungarian Court Chamber, Chief Justice of Hungary (1731–1748), and confidant of Empress Maria There ...

, a close friend of

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...

. It features many rooms and an impressive staircase. The chapel is decorated with frescoes by Joseph von Pichler. The building became a center of

musical life in Pozsony.

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

premiered some of his works here. Count Grassalkovich also had his orchestra and his "colleague", Prince

Esterházy The House of Esterházy, also spelled Eszterházy (), is a Hungarian noble family with origins in the Middle Ages. From the 17th century, the Esterházys were the greatest landowner magnates of the Kingdom of Hungary, during the time that it ...

, used to "lend" him his favorite conductor, Haydn. Grassalkovich was

's vassal, so the palace was used for various balls and parties of the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

royal court. For example, it was Haydn who conducted the orchestra when Maria Theresa's daughter married

Albert of Sachsen-Teschen Prince Albert Casimir of Saxony, Duke of Teschen (11 July 1738, Moritzburg, Electorate of Saxony – 10 February 1822, Vienna) was a Saxon prince from the House of Wettin who married into the Habsburg imperial family. He was noted as an a ...

, then governor of the Kingdom of Hungary (see Bratislava Castle). Ľudovít Štúr is said to have declared his love to Adela Ostrolúcka for the first time during a ball organized by

archduke Archduke (feminine: Archduchess; German: ''Erzherzog'', feminine form: ''Erzherzogin'') was the title borne from 1358 by the Habsburg rulers of the Archduchy of Austria, and later by all senior members of that dynasty. It denotes a rank within ...

Stephen Francis Victor (

Buda Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...

14 September 1817 – Menton 19 February 1867), son of the Palatine, Joseph. The last owners of the palace before the end of Austria-Hungary were archduke

Frederick of Teschen Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen (Friedrich Maria Albrecht Wilhelm Karl; 4 June 1856 – 30 December 1936) was a member of the House of Habsburg and the supreme commander of the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I. Early life Frie ...

with his wife

Isabella of Croy-Dülmen Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpora ...

. From 1919 the palace was occupied by the Territorial Military Command. During the 1939–1945 period, the palace was adapted by Emil Belluš and became the seat of the president of the First Slovak Republic (i.e. of Jozef Tiso). During the

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

era, it was first (after 1945) the seat of the Council of Commissioners (also styled Corps of Plenipotentiaries), which was a quasi-government of Slovakia within Czechoslovakia. In 1950, the building was turned into the " Klement Gottwald House of Pioneers and Youth" (''Dom pionierov a mládeže Klementa Gottwalda''), which was an activity center for Bratislava's schoolchildren, all of whom were so-called pioneers at that time. The schoolchildren caused extensive damage to the palace, and the necessary restoration only became possible following the transition from Communism in late 1989 with the Velvet Revolution. The restoration of Grassalkovich Palace during the early 1990s was overseen by the inaugural First Lady of Slovakia,

Emília Kováčová Emília Kováčová (8 February 1931 – 31 December 2020) was a Slovak economist and professor of employment and social development at the University of Economics in Bratislava. She served as the country's first first lady of Slovakia from 1993 ...

. Following its restoration, the palace became the residence of Slovakia's president on 30 September 1996. Its once-large gardens are now a public park, complete with a statue of Bratislava-born composer Jan Nepomuk Hummel. Grassalkovich Palace (2)

References

{{Authority control Palaces in Bratislava Official residences in Slovakia Presidential residences Grassalkovich family 18th-century architecture in Slovakia Houses completed in 1760 Baroque palaces in Slovakia Rococo architecture in Slovakia