Bratislava, Ger. Pressburg, Hung. Pozsony, city (1991 pop. 442,197), SW Slovakia, on the Danube River and near the Austrian and Hungarian borders. It is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Bratislava is an important road and rail center and a leading Danubian port. A well-diversified industry produces textiles, chemicals, and metal goods; during the Communist period, heavy industry was focused on the production of armaments. Forests, vineyards, and large farms surround the city, which has an active trade in agricultural products. It is also a popular tourist center. A Roman outpost called Posonium by the 1st cent. A.D., Bratislava became a stronghold of the Great Moravian Empire in the 9th cent. After the death of Ottocar II (1278), Bratislava and much of S and E Slovakia fell under Hungarian rule. From 1541, when the Turks captured Buda, until 1784, Bratislava served as Hungary's capital and the residence of Hungarian kings and archbishops. The kings continued to be crowned there until 1835, and Bratislava was the meeting place of the Hungarian diet until 1848. Inhabited largely by German traders before the 19th cent., the city then became predominantly Magyar. In the 19th cent. it was the center of the emerging Slovak national revival, and after the union of the Czech and Slovak territories in 1918 it was incorporated into Czechoslovakia. From 1939 until 1945, Bratislava was the capital of a nominally independent Slovak republic that was governed by a fascistic pro-German regime responsible for the murder of tens of thousands of Czechs and Jews. The Univ. of Jan Comenius (1919), the Slovak Academy of Sciences, a polytechnic university, a national theater, and several museums are in the city. The 9th-century castle, above the Danube, was rebuilt in the 13th cent. St. Martin's Cathedral, the Franciscan convent and church, and the old town hall are also 13th-century buildings. The new town hall occupies an 18th-century palace, formerly the residence of the primates of Hungary; the Treaty of Pressburg was signed there in 1805.

German Pressburg Hungarian Pozsony

City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 428,672), capital of Slovakia. Settled first by Celts and Romans, it was ultimately inhabited by Slavs in the 8th century. As Pressburg, it developed as a trade centre and became a free royal town in 1291. The first university in what was then Hungary was founded there in 1467. The city served as the Hungarian capital (1541–1784) and was the seat of the Diet until 1848. The Treaty of Pressburg (1805) was signed here by Napoleon and Francis II following the Battle of Austerlitz. After World War I, on the formation of Czechoslovakia, it became capital of the province of Slovakia, and it became the national capital on Slovakia's independence in 1992.

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Bratislava's Old Town Hall (Stará radnica, régi városháza) is one of the oldest stone buildings in Bratislava, and the oldest city hall in Slovakia.

Construction history

Finished in the Gothic style in the 15th century, it resulted from the joining several buildings (Pawerov dom, Ungerov dom, Aponiho palác, Pawer ház, Unger ház, Apponyi palota). The principal building adjacent to the tower was built by the city mayor Jakab in the 14th century, while the tower itself (originally Gothic) was erected in the late 13th century.

Later it underwent many transformations and enhancements, namely a Renaissance style reconstruction in 1599 following earthquake damage, Baroque restyling to the tower after a fire in the 18th century, and the addition of a Neorenaissance/Neogothic wing built in 1912.

Location

The Old Town Hall is located in the heart of the city center, between the Main Square and the Primate's square, next to the Greek and Japanese embassies. It is easily recognizable by its colorful tiled roof. Location:

Use

The building was used as a town hall from the 15th century through the late 19th century. At times during that period, however, it also served other purposes, including housing a prison and mint, and being place of trade and celebrations. It was also used as the city's arsenal depository and municipal archive.

Today it hosts the Bratislava City Museum, displaying exhibitions of Bratislava (Pressburg), (Pozsony)'s history. Exhibited items include torture instruments, the old town dungeons, antique weapons and armour, paintings and miniatures. One of its curiosities is a cannonball embedded in the tower wall, shot by Napoleon's soldiers in 1809 during bombardment of the city from Petržalka (Pozsonyligetfalu). During the summer its courtyard hosts concerts.