06 November 2019

How many people can tell
Slovakia from Slovenia, or
Bratislava from Breslau?

The flags of Slovakia and the European Union flying outside the Opera House in the heart of the old city of Bratislava (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

This is my first time to visit Bratislava, and my first time to visit Slovakia.

I was in Prague, the capital of the neighbouring Czech Republic, earlier this year [22-25 January 2019], and I have passed through Prague Airport at least four times before (2005-2007) on way to and from Romania. But this is my first visit to the other republic and to the other capital of the former Czechoslovakia.

While I was visiting Venice this time last year [5-9 November 2018], I paid a brief visit to Gorizia or Gorica, a city that straddles the borders of Italy and Slovenia. But it is surprising that many people do not know their Slovakia from their Slovenia.

Although Bratislava – particularly this part of the city – is centuries old, Bratislava has only been known by its present name for the past 100 years. Until 1919, it was mostly known in English by its German name, Pressburg, and sometimes by its Hungarian name, Pozsony.

The new name caused much confusion a century ago, because Wrocław, which is now in western Poland, was known in German as Breslau, in Czech as Vratislav and in Latin as Vratislavia, as its political status shifted between Poland, Bohemia, Hungary, the Austro-Hungarian empire, Prussia, Germany and Poland again.

To make confusing names even more confusing, Bratslav is the name of a mediaeval city in central Ukraine, also known as Braclaw and Bretslov.

Journalists were confused last year when the Prime Ministers of Slovenia and Slovakia resigned in the same week. But the confusion between Slovakia and Slovenia has existed since the 1990s, when they became two of the newest countries in Europe.

Neither country borders the other, yet both have borders with Austria and Hungary. Slovakia separated from the former Czechoslovakia at the ‘Velvet Revolution’ in 1992, formed a new state in 1993, and joined the European Union in 2004. Slovenia gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and joined the EU in 2004.

Symbols of Slovakia in a souvenir shop in the centre of the old town in Bratisalva (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Slovakia and Slovenia have similar names, similar flags, and a similar history. Slovakia calls itself Slovenská Republika, while Slovenia is Republika Slovenija. One language is known its speakers as Slovenčina, the other as Slovenščina, a letter rather than a word or a world of difference. To their residents, these countries are known as Slovensko and Slovenija; and among those residents, Slovenka in Slovak means a Slovak woman; Slovenka in Slovene means a Slovene woman.

The flags of these two countries are almost identical, with white, blue and red horizontal stripes and a heraldic shield displaying mountain peaks. The wrong flag is often flown, and the wrong anthem is often played at international sporting fixtures.

George W Bush famously once talked about his meeting with the Foreign Minister of Slovakia, when in fact he had met the Foreign Minister of Slovenia, and at a press conference in 2003, Silvio Berlusconi introduced Anton Rop, then the Prime Minister of Slovenia, as the Prime Minister of Slovakia.

I wonder whether Donald Trump is ever confused? Melania Trump was born in Slovenia, while Ivana Trump was born in what was then Czechoslovakia. There is more than awall that separates the two; indeed they are separated by a whole country, Hungary.

There is a popular urban myth in many European capitals that claims diplomats from the Slovak and Slovene embassies meet regularly to exchange mail that has gone to the wrong address.

By the end of this week, I am sure, I am not going to be able to imagine how anyone could be confused.

Flying the Slovak colours … a souvenir shop in the centre of the old town in Bratisalva (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

A few days in Bratislava,
the capital of Slovakia

The Arcadia Boutique Hotel on Frantiskanska Street is in the heart of the old city of Bratislava, a building that dates back to the 13th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

I am in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, for the next few days, celebrating some landmark dates in the family. I arrived on a Ryanair flight from Dublin earlier this morning [5 November 2019] and I am staying in the Arcadia Boutique Hotel on Frantiskanska Street, in the heart of the old city.

I have already strolled through the old town this afternoon, and the attractions on the doorstep include Saint Martin’s Cathedral, Gothic churches, palaces and castles, the Museum of Jewish Culture, the banks of the River Danube and the other sites that make this a charming European capital.

During the Third Crusade (1189-1192), it is said, the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa stayed at a building on this site. The hotel building claims to date back to 1290, with memories than date back seven or eight centuries, housed in mediaeval buildings that have been transformed into a romantic hotel, but retaining its vaults, old ceilings and winding corridors.

Evidence of a Celtic settlement in the area in the 3rd century BC has been found in the cellar, archaeological research has revealed indications of a Roman settlement at the site, and objects from the 12th and 13th centuries have been found in the hotel grounds. Inside, the building retains fine works in wrought iron from the Renaissance, Baroque and Classicism eras.

Františkánska Street was originally a street leading up to Bratislava Castle, and buildings were built on only one side of the street. The original buildings included the Franciscan Church with the Chapel of Saint John the Evangelist, the monastery garden and the Franciscan monastery.

In the first part of the 15th century, this street slowly developed into an area for craftsmen, including stonemasons, knife grinders and coopers, who worked alongside the city wall.

The building served as the headquarters of the Hussite movement in Bratislava in 1432. As a legacy from that time, a chalice as the symbol of the Hussites was carved in stone into one of the arcades in the building.

The hotel’s cellar, now used as a wellness area, is the oldest part of the building and offers a fine example of Gothic vaults. On the first floor, there are examples of late-Gothic wall ornaments and stone window frames.

The arcades in the central courtyard area, which now forms the hotel’s lobby area, are among the finest examples of Renaissance architecture in Slovakia. The Renaissance-era vaulted ceiling in the cocktail bar is decorated with Baroque ornaments.

During my few days here, I hope to post on this blog about my visits to churches, castles and the cathedral. I am planning to visit the remaining sites of Jewish Bratislava tomorrow [6 November 2019], and may even take the bus to neighbouring Vienna, the capital of Austria, which is about an hour away.

Join me over the next few days on this blog, if only for a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, as I explore what for me is a new venture in a new European capital.

Parts of the hotel are said to dates back to the 13th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)