Pálffy Palace () is a 17th-century palace of the Pálffy family on Zámocká Street in the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, situated underneath the

Bratislava Castle Bratislava Castle (, ; ; ) is the main castle of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The massive rectangular building with four corner towers stands on an isolated rocky hill of the Little Carpathians, directly above the Danube river, in ...

. After partial demolition at the beginning of the 20th century, only the summer

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings; * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

of the original palace complex remains and today, the building is a protected cultural monument and is used for cultural events.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

performed a concert in the palace during his visit of Bratislava. It is one of four historical buildings in Bratislava named Palffy Palace, the others being on Panská Street, Ventúrska Street and Hviezdoslav Square.

History

Pálffy Palace and Garden was a large complex built during the reconstruction of the

Bratislava castle Bratislava Castle (, ; ; ) is the main castle of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The massive rectangular building with four corner towers stands on an isolated rocky hill of the Little Carpathians, directly above the Danube river, in ...

some time after 1635 by Pál Pálffy. He belonged to the family of Count Mikuláš Pálffy, who married into the

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

banking family of Fuggers and acquired financial support to arm soldiers and develop

Červený Kameň Castle Červený Kameň Castle (, , ) is a 13th-century castle in southwestern Slovakia in the Little Carpathians near the village of Častá. History A stone castle was built by Tiburtius Rosd or his descendants in the 13th century as part of the chai ...

. Miklós Pálffy was also a captain of Bratislava Castle and a governor of Bratislava province. In 1630, Pállfy was commissioned by the

Diet of Hungary The Diet of Hungary or originally: Parlamentum Publicum / Parlamentum Generale () was the most important political assembly in Hungary since the 12th century, which emerged to the position of the supreme legislative institution in the Kingdom ...

to lead a large-scale reconstruction of the Bratislava Castle and during this time he decided to build a palace for himself on Schlossgrund, outside of the walled town of Bratislava (known as Pressburg or Pozsony through much of its history). The palace was a massive building with castle-like walls that looked plain from the outside but was lavish and luxurious inside. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the only access from the city to the castle were the narrow stairs of Zámocké schody Street. Pálffy also built a service road, used during the construction and later for supplying the palace which later became today's Zámocká Street. Soon afterwards, the street was settled by Jews migrating into the city from the areas under former control of Miklós Pálffy. In 1653, Pál Pálffy died inside his palace. In 1732, the palace underwent a major reconstruction. In 1736,

Francis Stephen of Lorraine Francis I (Francis Stephen; ; ; ; 8 December 1708 – 18 August 1765) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1745 to 1765, Archduke of Austria from 1740 to 1765, Duke of Lorraine and Bar from 1729 to 1737, and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1737 to 1765. He ...

, the future

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

, resided in Pállfy palace. In 1781, a commission of representatives of four different confessions took place in the palace as a consequence of the

Patent of Toleration The Patent of Toleration (, ) was an edict of toleration issued on 13 October 1781 by the Habsburg emperor Joseph II. Part of the Josephinist reforms, the Patent extended religious freedom to non-Catholic Christians living in the crown lands ...

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I, ...

. In 1870, on behalf of the city of Bratislava, Henrich Justi bought the palace from its owner Samuel Spitzer Loebl for the sum of 105,000 gold pieces and donated it to the city of Bratislava. Artillery barracks were established there together with an orphanage and some flats for the poor. Writing in 1905, historian Tivadar Ortvay notes that the city has negligible income from the barracks, the palace can be sold as construction material and the land turned into new land lots for sale and streets could be connected by eliminating the Pálffy Garden and there is talk about Mitterhauser's plan to keep part of the palace complex and demolish the rest. By this time, the former palace was already substiantally modified for barracks, stables and warehouses, destroying much of its former glory. The palace contained a chapel, that was eventually turned into stables. After 1900 the complex was slowly and gradually demolished to make room for new buildings, among others the student dormitory Svoradov and elementary school at Palisády Street. The only part of the former palace complex that survived the gradual demolition was the former summer pavillon which after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

became the ownership of the Bratislava Residential Company (Bytový podnik Bratislava 1) and a warehouse of construction materials was established here. The condition of the building worsened over time and in 1975, there was a plan to reconstruct the building into a wine house featuring an exposition on winemaking. In 1985, the palace was declared a Slovak Cultural Monument. In 1989 a new architecture competition was conducted with the intent of reconstructing the building for use by the Slovak Union of Visual Arts, as an exposition hall for the

, as a general purpose exhibition hall and as a confectionery. In March, 1990 the building (but not the land) was sold by the Bratislava Residential Company to ZO Zväzarm - Veterán Car Club Rusovce. The building was later restored and today it is known as the Pálffy Palace at Zámocká Street. The current palace compound features also stairs from Svoradova Street with a historical portal that was moved here in the 1920s or 1930s in the process of demolition. In 2013, both portal and the stairs were reconstructed by the city borough of

for the sum of 40,000 EUR.

Pálffy Garden

The Pálffy Garden (, , ) was a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

garden that was located next to the palace between today's Zámocká Street, Škarniclova Street, Palisády Street, Zochova Street and Pilárikova Street. It was described as the most unique and beautiful garden of both Bratislava and the whole

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. The garden featured the Pálffy Hall, which served as a

riding hall A riding hall, indoor arena, indoor school (UK English), or indoor ring (US English) is a building (part of an equestrian facility) that is specially designed for indoor horse riding. Smaller, private buildings contain only space for riding, w ...

, housed public happenings, cultural events, and briefly also theatrical productions. The Hall was demolished in 1893. The garden was opened to the public in 1801 and destroyed with the palace after 1900.

Today

Today, the building serves as a cultural establishment with concerts of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

taking place here, as well as design cultural events, exhibitions and international conferences. The restored palace is best accessed from the " Zochova" and " Kapucinska"

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

stops walking up the hill towards

or from Palisády Street, walking downhill. The building is located approximately 5 minutes walking from the historical city center.

Gallery

Image:Pálfiho palác na Zámockej 2.jpg, Pálffy Palace as seen from Zámocká Street Image:Bratislavla zamocka skulptura.jpg, Sculpture on the walls of the Pálffy Palace Image:Bratislavla zamocka skulptura1.jpg, Sculpture on the walls of the Pálffy Palace Image:COA Palffy Miklos III 3.jpg, Coat of arms of Miklós III Pálffy on the palace entrance from Svoradova Street Image:Pálfiho palác na Zámockej, tabuľa.jpg, Memorial table on the walls of the Pálffy Palace

References

External links