Mirbach Palace

Mirbach Palace is a Baroque-Rococo building in the historical zone of Bratislava, Slovakia. The four-wing, two-story building, which ranks among the most beautiful and best-preserved architectural monuments of the mentioned style period in Slovakia, was named after the last owner, Baron Dr. Emil Mirbach.

The history of the palace and the place where the current building stands goes back to the ancient past. The first historical document related to the building's predecessor is the cadastral record of the plot here, dating from 1379. The deed mentions the owner of the house on this plot, who was a certain Mikuláš Damankusch. There is a document from 1443 in which the said house is mentioned as "Weittenhof" (from German, wide yard). The well-known Bratislava historian Tivadar Ortvay (1843-1916) states in one of his writings that the building standing here was decorated with the city coat of arms, and its core consisted mostly of wooden construction.

From the middle of the 17th to the beginning of the 18th century, in addition to the name "Weittenhof", the designation "domus civitatis" (i.e. "city house") is mentioned in the historical records, on the basis of which it can be assumed that the original object came into the property in the mentioned period towns.

Since its inception in the 14th century, the building has been owned by several owners of different social status. Among the most important of them was e.g. Chamber councilor Juraj Szombathely (lived in the house in 1621); in 1636 it was owned by the Illésházy family.

The construction of the house did not escape Matej Bel's attention either. In his famous Notes (from 1735) he describes it as follows: "Finally, the palace, which is popularly called Weiter-Hoff after its wide courtyard, is not to be missed. It belongs to the city according to a very old law. It is built on a wide area at the mouth of Zámočnícká Street (Germans call it Schlosser Gasse, Hungarians call it Lakatos-Utza). Where there is a view of the Franciscan church, the rooms are suitable for living. But because it is drawn to the other side in two wings, it does not lack beauty and comfort..."

Bel continues with a description of an event that significantly affected the fate of the building - on 23 October 1733, the house burned down. The obvious cause was the negligence of the theater company that rented the premises in the palace.

Text adapted from “Mirbach Palace” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Mirbach Palace ranks #4,228 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #55 of the 136 mapped in Slovakia. Founded 1379, it is older than 55% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 582 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. 21 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Bratislava, 1 km away. See how Slovakia compares in the castle statistics.

View on the interactive castle map →

Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗