St Martin's Cathedral in Bratislava and a Brief History of Slovakia

Bratislava is less than 125 miles from Budapest.

Vienna is just 37 miles away from Bratislava, making them the geographically-closest capital cities of any two nations in the world.

Overshadowed by world-renowned Vienna and Budapest which came before and after Bratislava on our Danube River cruise, the vibrant capital of Slovakia is approached by many guests with few preconceptions and possibly as an after-thought.

Coronation of Maria Theresa, 1741, Pressburg by Johann Daniel Herz

One reason you may not have heard of Bratislava is that until 1919, it was known by the Germanic name Pressburg.

During the Ottoman occupation of Central Hungary, Pressburg became the de facto capital of Royal Hungary as well as its coronation site.

The ceremony held here for Maria Theresa included her well-rehearsed horsemanship that revealed her deep respect for the equestrian traditions of the Magyar people that in turn indirectly resulted in 60,000 Hungarian troops heroically riding to the rescue of her royal claims.

Beautiful St. Martin's Cathedral served as the coronation church for Maria Theresa and 18 other Kings, Queens and Consorts between 1563 and 1830, beginning with Maximillian II and ending with Ferdinand V.

Julie and I had taken AmaCerto's Active Walker Bratislava Castle Hike Tour, which did not include St. Martin's, but fortunately Julie had written this historic site into the "Itinerary Guide" furnished by AmaWaterways as a must-see.

The stained glass is exceptional, but it was the statue of St. Martin by Georg Rafael Donner completed in 1744 that most grabbed my attention.

It's supposed to represent St. Martin sharing a coat with the poor, but to me it looks very much like an Ottoman Turk revealing a scimitar from behind a cloak intent on slashing a defenseless man.

A Google search shows several takes through history of the exact same subject with similar representations of this fourth century Hungarian Saint as a man on horseback brandishing a sword of some sort and sharing a coat.

To me, most of this art seems to represent a hidden danger behind the cloak of charity.

St. Martin's father was an officer in the Imperial Horse Guard of the Roman army.

As a young man, Martin himself was in the cavalry, so perhaps this is just showing he was a horseman who had served in the military as his father had.

In a History and Appreciation of Art at Golden West College, however, I learned that sometimes artists make political statements that could not be safely voiced in a more direct manner, so I always wonder about the motivation of artistic choices.

Artists often adapt subjects to conform with the cultural norms within their own homelands and eras to make them more relatable to their audiences

So was this some kind of political statement with the fez and scimitar, or does it say more about how I personally perceive the current influx of Islamic refugees who seem to have no interest in assimilating?

Art is always subject to interpretation, just like politics, but political statements are more likely to be quite direct.

I should note that our Hiking Tour brought us past several interesting sculptures, often revealing Slovak good humor.  On the weekend day of our visit, so many tourists pushed to have their photos taken with them that it seemed silly to jockey for position, especially when photos are available on line.

In stark contrast, we had remarkable St. Martin's Cathedral and its beautiful art essentially to ourselves.

Getting back to an earlier point about historical perspective, knowing this city was once Pressburg, you may wonder why the name changed.

As World War I concluded, the new country of Czechoslovakia earned freedom from the talons of the Habsburgs.

No longer dominated by Austria, the new country chose to change the city's Germanic name of Pressburg to the Slovak name Bratislava.

Under the leadership of intellectual idealist Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, a parliamentary democracy emerged with great promise, combining Slavic peoples with slightly different languages and complementary economic strengths into a new country, but it would not have been possible without support of the Allies who defeated Austro-Hungary and Germany.


The Czech part of Czechoslovakia was an industrial powerhouse, while Slovakia was primarily agricultural.

From the outset, some Slovaks felt somewhat under the thumb of Czech leaders, but the alliance generally worked.

Almost exactly two decades after the founding of this peaceful democratic republic, Nazi Germany annexed the Sudetenland, the primarily German-speaking border areas of Czechoslovakia which Hitler considered a natural part of his country.

Not incidentally, this happened to be a heavily industrialized part of Czechoslovakia, which would subsequently feed the insatiable Nazi Blitzkrieg machine.

It also contained Czechoslovakia's border defenses, damning the fledgling country to inevitable conquest by Germany.

Under the Munich Agreement signed at the end of September, 1938, Great Britain's Neville Chamberlain infamously declared they had achieved "peace for our time."

Not quite.

As has been the case repeatedly throughout history, appeasement of evil failed.

Hitler immediately began making plans to crush Czechoslovakia.

The agreement between Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy became known as the Munich Betrayal to those whose fate was decided without their input.

On March 15, 1939, Hitler's Nazi forces conquered the Czech region.

Meanwhile, after years pushing for independence for Slovakia from perceived Czech domination, Joseph Tiso and his Slovak People's Party met with Hitler and struck a deal for an independent Slovak State.

Tiso's deal with the devil brought his "independent" country into Hitler's evil Axis, and there would be a heavy price to pay for this sin.

Unlike the Czecholovak Legion that fought on the side of Russia against their own country, Austro-Hungary, in World War I, the Slovak Army fought against their Slavic brothers in the Soviet Union in WWII.

No political movement is monolithic, as we might like to imagine.

Far less than all Slovakians supported their country's alignment with Nazi Germany, and an uprising by the Slovak resistance in 1944 continued clandestinely through the end of the war.

The "liberation" of Czechoslovakia by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics led to Russian communist domination for the next 44 years.

The heavy hand behind the Iron Curtain attempted to crush all dreams from that initial bold, successful experiment with democracy between WWI and WWII for this region that had previously been ruled by royal monarchies for centuries.

However, a spark of freedom ignited.

In the last two months of 1989, emboldened by the words of American President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II, Czechoslovakia threw off the confining shackles of communist Russian rule with the non-violent Velvet Revolution, which had morphed from a communist-sanctioned memorial for a martyr killed by Nazis.

Happy to be free from decades of one-party Communist rule, they were nonetheless unable to reach suitable terms for reestablishing that pre-war union of Czechs and Slovaks.

Slovakia and the Czech Republic amicably decided to go their own ways, and on January 1, 1993, the independent Slovak Republic, more commonly known as Slovakia, was born.

Slovakia has embraced American traditions of capitalism, freedoms as found in our Bill of Rights, and democratic governance.

As a result of this mindset combined with their intelligent, highly educated workforce, Slovakia has made itself an advanced economy with one of the highest standards of living in the world.

"Better service leads to better trips!"

Chilling in Bratislava, Slovakia

While we love the included excursions on river cruises, sometimes we're ready to simply relax at a sidewalk cafe in a foreign land to chill.

Bratislava proved to be a wonderful place for that.


After our tour, we found an outdoor festival in full swing at the main plaza on our way to the ship.

Slovakian (historically Hungarian) dancers wearing clothes very much like what you'd expect at Oktoberfest performed on stage to happy regional folk music.

We watched until the end of their show, and then meandered down the street to our river cruise ship for a delicious lunch.

Perhaps we should eat more food in international cities we visit, but it's hard to pass on a free meal when it is so convenient, tasty and prepared with fresh, local ingredients.

After lunch, however, we found seats at a sidewalk cafe for drinks near the plaza stage, where the music had changed to great rock with a Slovakian accent.

As we relaxed enjoying the day, my mind couldn't help wandering to our son-in-law and his family, who immigrated from Slovakia a few years before the Iron Curtain lifted.

Laszlo was born in Nitra, one of the oldest cities in Slovakia.

Located about an hour west of Bratislava along the Nitra River, which flows south into the Danube, the city of Nitra has a castle and other historic sites that would be worthwhile for travelers to check out, but back in the early 1980s, times were tough for the family under Communist rule.

Intelligent and well-educated, Szilard and Ria envisioned a better life for their children, where they could grow up to be whatever they wanted instead of what the state dictated they had to be.

Szilard, who is known to friends as Z, made the bold decision to escape.

Consider that during the Reign of Terror, Marie Antoinette and the French royal family were put essentially under house arrest from which they plotted an escape to Austria.  Advised to travel separately to avoid detection, the Queen refused to be separated from her family. Despite having unlimited funds and powerful allies (her brother was the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire), when they made their break, they were caught and soon imprisoned awaiting an even worse fate for daring to flee.

The Communists took escaping to the West no less seriously, though admittedly without a guillotine waiting.

Retribution would be severe if they were caught.

Z calculated that bringing his wife, a toddler and a baby with him would have been quite impossible, so he planned how he might just be able to get out from behind the Iron Curtain on his own.

Athletic young man, not in the style of a beefy football player who might try to bull his way out but rather with the physique of an agile tumbler or track star, Z successfully made the break.

Ria stayed behind raising her two very young children under even more trying conditions, hoping for a miracle.

Against all odds, Z made his way across borders in an era when such travel was strictly forbidden, eventually making it to an Italian refugee camp.

During his year stuck behind the chain link fence, enduring the pain of missing his family as well as the stoic existence of confinement, the affable Z befriended other refugees, including one who made it to the United States and sponsored Z.

After crossing the ocean, it took years of struggle in his new country, but Z finally saved enough money to bring his family to join him.  There was also a ton of paperwork that had to be submitted to bureaucracies in both countries, but perseverance paid off in 1986, when his family was finally able to join Z in the USA.

As it turned out, the Soviet Union crumbled three years later, but by that time they had settled into their new American life.

The family thoroughly assimilated into the United States.  Having learned some English from flash cards before immigrating, they soon mastered the language. Laszlo, Junior, Z and Ria now speak English as well as or better than most native Americans.  In fact, while English may be their second language, Z and Ria win almost every game of Scrabble they play when competing against lifelong English-speakers with extensive vocabularies.

They are living the American dream, where their children have been given the opportunity to live a life better than their own.  Ria spent several years caring for Emma to allow Gina and Laszlo to establish their challenging careers.  Ria is also a fine artist and has helped Emma develop her own artistic talent.

Our son-in-law Laszlo graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Science in Psychobiology and went on to earn a Masters Degree in Education.

Because he has a strong interest in computers too, he has also studied advanced programs for computer networking and now works in both education and computers.

His brother Junior went into high tech.

I'm proud to have these wonderful people who adopted our country as the other side of the family tree for our granddaughter Emma.

Soviet-Era facade on left next to historic building on right

Touring Prague

Charles Bridge from River Boat

After a great first evening in Prague, we began questioning whether we had scheduled a long enough stay in this beautiful, historic European capital where beer and meals are so inexpensive.

As it turned out, taking a tour considerably sped up seeing the city, as it usually does.

Existentialist author Franz Kafka was born in Prague.

Guided tours are a big reason why so many people who initially believe a day in a port isn't nearly enough to really see a city end up eschewing a future cruise that calls on that same port on the basis that they've already experienced it.

Our Central Hotel stay included breakfast, which is always appreciated in a foreign city, as long as it doesn't pad the room-only price too much.

We rolled down stairs to enjoy cappuccino and assorted breakfast choices that included eggs, fruit, cereal, meat, cheese and, best of all, pastries.

In addition to two hotel nights, our Travel Bound package included the Best of Prague Tour, and we were soon off to the meeting point in Wenceslas Square.

Julie's infallible sense of direction and a map brought us there without undue hardship, although we walked right past the meeting place when it turned out to be under heavy construction that obstructed its sign.

Soon, we boarded a bus that took us up the hill toward Prague Castle.

As we drove along, the guide pointed out the Dancing Building inspired by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, as well as many other landmarks with quick explanations.

I worried the whole tour could be nothing but a blur.

However, as with many such tour bus rides, it was primarily transportation with a bit of narration to keep us from becoming bored.   In this case, once we stepped off the bus at the Castle, we never rode it again.

Over the course of the day, we walked something like 6 miles, so we were happy to have taken that bus ride, especially when we saw the alternative stairway to the Castle, which we took down to the city later.

The Castle complex started as a church and expanded over the years to its current 750,000 square feet.

The government still convenes there, and when the national flag flies atop the Palace, it means their President is on the grounds, as he was during our visit.

We watched the ceremonial Changing of the Guard at the palace gate.  The video I shot didn't turn out that great, so I'm afraid you'll have to go see it for yourself.

With the madness of crowds, lots of people pushed up to the rope line by the gate to try to get the best view of the drum and bugle corps.

If everyone would have backed up to about a 75 foot radius to make an arc, we all could have seen better.

Near that same gate is a statue of Czech hero Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the first President of Czechoslovakia.

Perhaps you remember that during World War I, our ally Russia underwent the Bolshevik Revolution, whereby the royal family was ousted from power and communist rebels took over the government.

Somehow, Russia remained our allies against Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire despite the regime upheaval, although the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed by Bolshevik Russia and the German-led coalition on March 3, 1918, ended Russia’s participation in World War I several months earlier than the cessation of hostilities.

Mazaryk took advantage of the fog of war to similarly lead a movement to split what are now the Czech Republic and Slovakia from Austria-Hungary and unite them into a new country.

With sympathies to their fellow Slavic peoples in Russia and Serbia, Mazaryk headed a counterespionage unit against his Habsburg leaders.

Ex-patriot Czechs and Slovakians had already formed the Czechoslovak Legion to wage outright war against their former country.

The Allies decided to support his plan for the new country, and Czechoslovakia emerged from WWI as one of the ten most industrialized countries in the world, thanks to the fact that it had about three-fourths of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire's manufacturing capacity.

The languages of Czechs and Slovakians are similar but not identical.

Like our 13 colonies, they combined the economies of an industrial Czech region with the agricultural Slovakia.

Similar to our Northern and Southern states, there remained inequalities throughout that union in terms of development.

Nonetheless, Czechoslovakia turned out to be a stable parliamentary democracy until 1938, when Hitler set his evil sights on them.

A large ethnic German population in Sudetenland made up about 25% of Czechoslovakia's population of 14 million, and Hitler considered them his natural subjects.

In the Munich Agreement, France and Great Britain signed away Silesia and other Czechoslovakian lands.  Hitler proceeded to expel all Slavs from his new territories.

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain famously proclaimed this and other concessions to Hitler would assure "Peace for our time."

Totally renovated Jewish District

When World War II erupted, Czechoslovakians naturally sided with the Allies who had recognized their country at the end of the first world war.

To make a long story short, Germany essentially divided and conquered Czechoslovakia, but the region was "liberated" by Russian troops in 1944.

Founded in 1375, oldest tavern in Czech Republic

Much as Hitler considered Sudetenland his natural annexation, the Soviet Union felt this formerly free Slavic country should be subject to them, and peace for our time came at a heavy price for the people of Czechoslovakia.

It wouldn't be until 1989's Velvet Revolution, itself made possible by a resolute American stance that forced the Soviet Union to crumble, that Czechoslovakia would emerge from heavy-handed communist rule.

When in 1991, the last Soviet troops had withdrawn, a schism between Czech and Slovakian political leaders became increasingly evident, and as 1992 came to a close, the 74 year union ended with Slovakia and the Czech Republic as independent nations.

As lunch time approached, we made the long descent on an ancient stairway and proceeded past a lot of street construction to Hotel Leonardo for lunch.  Concerns about noise dissipated when we passed through the hotel into a lovely patio area restaurant, Platino.

Lunch included with the tour was another opportunity for me to have goulash and for Julie to have wiener schnitzel, among other choices.

This meal was much better than the one at the jazz club the prior night.

The jazz club goulash had been cubed stew meat in spicy gravy served with rolls, whereas Platino's was more like my mother's slow-roasted roast beef seasoned with some extra paprika and sliced dumplings.  Unlike individual dumplings made at home, it was apparently a loaf of bread dough boiled and then cut into slices.

After lunch, our guided walk around Prague took us past the oldest tavern in the Czech Republic, Prague's Little Venice, statues of the Charles Bridge, huge clock where we watched the changing of the hour, and the Jewish Quarter, eventually winding our way to a river boat as the grand finale.

Every picture has a story to tell, and I have far more photos than the ones included in my three blog posts featuring Prague, but at a certain point even I get tired of writing about them.

Starting with cake and coffee as we embarked, it was a relaxing hour-long boat ride back past the Charles Bridge to see the city again from a different perspective.

We were pretty well worn out by the end of our tour, but we walked back to Charles Bridge one more time and found a table with a nice view on the river for drinks at sunset.

As often seems to be the case, relaxing at that perfect table, just taking in the moment, proved to be the very best part of our sojourn in Prague.

Early that morning, we had passed sausage carts at Wenceslas Square that smelled delectable, but we had already had breakfast and knew we'd be having lunch on our tour.  I had been thinking about ordering one all day.

We didn't find any such carts closer by, so we walked back to Wenceslas Square, and the giant sausage served on a role with a Coke Zero on the side was delicious.

When we collapsed into bed, thoroughly exhausted, we felt like we really had experienced plenty of Prague for this trip, so after a good night's sleep and breakfast, we headed to the train station for a four hour ride to Bavaria in a train that turned out to lack wifi and air conditioning.

However, I definitely would be happy to return again to Prague.