The first thing that you as a visitor should know is where you are and who are the people you will meet in Bratislava. Most of the people you will meet will be ethnic Slovaks and the language you will be listening to will be Slovak. Before the World War II, which meant an end for the three-nation and three-language city of Pressburg-Pozsonyi-Bratislava (German, Hungarian, and Slovak), the character of the city was multicultural. Our populous Jewish community suffered from the Holocaust, the German and partly Hungarian community was expelled from the city and out of the country and a lot of ethnic Slovaks moved to the city. The Slovak character of the city prevailed and much of the historical heritage was destroyed during the 40 years of the socialist regime between 1948 and 1989. After the collapse of the communist regime, the city is regaining its former charm and character. Although the multi-national character of the city is definitely over, the Bratislavans are trying to prove themselves as a tolerant, open, modern community. The historic architecture of the Old Town, which reminds us to the architecture of Vienna, Graz, Budapest, Győr and many other cities of the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, witnesses the re-birth of a vivid Central European city. Bratislava Card wishes you a pleasant stay and we all hope you will come back to discover more of Bratislava.

The beginning of the settlement of the town's territory goes far back into primeval times. The settling of the town and the castle has been practically uninterrupted since the Upper Stone Age (5000 to 3500 BC). Among the first nations to settle in Bratislava's territory were the Celts, the Germanic tribes, and the Romans. The first written evidence of the city comes from the Salzburg annals written in 907 AD. In 1291, King Andrew III gave Bratislava its city rights. For more than 300 years Bratislava was the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary. Between 1563 and 1830, 10 kings, 1 queen, and 8 wives of kings were crowned here. In 1805, the Bratislava Peace was signed here. Today, Bratislava is the capital of the Slovak Republic, the seat of the president, the National Council of the Slovak Republic (the parliament), and is the site of the most important institutions of culture, industry and science.

Bratislava has some very ardent fans, in fact two of them, fascinated by its corners, mystery and flair created this website. Did you know you were looking at Bratislava each time you saw Nicol Kidman and George Clooney in the Hollywood movie Peacemaker? It “played” Vienna and Sarajevo. More...