VENUE

Bratislava, the Capital of Slovak Republic, is placed where the Great Carpatian Bow
is touching Danube River.

Location of SSC 2002 conference
"Conference & Visitors Centre of Comenius University" in Bratislava, known as "Druzba" is located in a very nice area of Bratislava on the edge of Danube River. Easy access by trams of municipal transport system of Bratislava, around 15 minutes to/from the downtown. Restricted number of medium-standard hotel rooms and basic-comfort student college rooms available for participants, breakfast included. Booking granted on a first come, first served basis, Academia Tours Ltd. (e-mail: service@academia.sk)

In its long history,
Bratislava also became a royal seat and a coronation town. Dominated by the Castle
which was mentioned for the first time in 907 AD, Bratislava is nowadays a city of schools,
scientific and cultural institutes, fairs, festivals and interesting sport events.


History of Bratislava`s name
Bratislava and Pressburg are two names of the same city used in different historical periods. The older name of Pressburg was used for more than a thousand years. It was first mentioned in the Salzburg annals in connection with the batle between Bavarian and Old Hungarian armies in 907 below the castle of Brezalauspurc. The castle probably bore the name of one of its lords or administrators. It might have been either the Slav prince Braslav or a man called Predslav quoted in the list of Great Moravian nobles of the famous Cividal Evangeliary. More recent historians rather believe that the name is derived from the name of a less known Old Slav noble Bozan. The modern name Bratislava has been the official name of the city since the end of the First World War.

The Primatial Palace
The primatial palace which with his bulky building occupies the whole southern side of the Primatial square, is considered the most beautiful in Bratislava. It was built in the years 1778-1781 on the site of an older Archbishop`s palace. A mansion of the Archbishop of Esztergom stood here long before, this highest Church dignitary in Hungary had to abandon Esztergom on its capture by the Turks, and move his office and seat to Pressburg and Trnava.

 

The most famous native of Pressburg
Johann Nepomuk HUMMEL was born in a family of an active musician and teacher of music. His father, a member of the private orchestra of Prince Anton Grasalkovich and also director of the Municipal Theatre orchestra endowed Hummel with an excellent musical education. Hummel moved with his parents to Vienna when he was a little boy a became a pupil of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. On one occasion Mozart allegedly said that one day his pupil would be a better pianist than his teacher. As a twelve year old "prodigy" child Hummel toured Germany, Denmark, England, Scotland and Holland. He was guest of several European royal courts. During his studies in Eisenstadt he was a deputy to Joseph Haydn. He was successful not only as an interpreter but also as a composer. He wrote various composition for piano solo, operas, ballets and masses. Thanks to Hummel the piano composition progressed from Classicism to Romanticism. He gave three concerts in his native Pressburg. During his third visit to this city in 1834 connected with concerts his whole family accompanied him. Johan Nepomuk Hummel died three years after at Weimar in Germany. He is buried side by side with such geniuses as J. W. Goethe and F. Schiller.

 

"Cumil" or "the gazing man"

The small bronze statue placed next to café on the corner is a comparatively new attraction of what is colloquially called Bratislava`s Corso. News about Cumil quickly spread about. One of the regional Canadian newspapers published the photograph of the statue with a short commentary, which avokes smile.The photographer visited Bratislava as a tourist and asserted that the statue wearing a helmet represented a member of a paramilitary organisation fighting against the Russian tanks in August
1968 (Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia). A close look at the statue reveals that instead of helmet, a cap with strap covers the gazing man`s head. "Cumil" is a common man observing beautiful girls passing by, as Bratislava is also famous also for an unusually high rate of beautiful girls per square kilometre.