History

The idea of preservation of historical monuments and systematic collecting of artefacts started to be more apparent in the mid-19th century. It was fuelled by a growing sense of local patriotism, interest of regional historians and positive attitude of broader social public toward the history and values of the city.

A key moment for the establishment of the City Museum was the founding of the Bratislava Beautification Society (Pozsonyer Verschönerungsverein) in 1868. In its framework, Jozef Könyöki proposed the establishment of the City Museum. Könyöki became its first curator and, together with local elites that included František Floridus Römer or Ján Nepomuk Batka Jr, he started to shape the foundations of the institution.

Thanks to the support of the mayor Henrich Justi, the museum acquired the premises in the Old Town Hall. First collections, made of donations from townspeople, guild artefacts and archaeological finds, were displayed as early as the autumn of 1869; by the following year the collections had grown to 1200 items. Two decades later, the museum came under professional management in Budapest which provided state funding and systematic development of four principal departments: library, archaeology, ethnography and fine arts. At the turn of the centuries, the museum’s activities started to professionalise thanks to Augustín Helmár who organised the collections and created their first card catalogue.

Through the turmoils of two totalitarian regimes

The year 1918 marked a major turning point. The end of monarchy and establishment of Czechoslovakia made the museum redefine its identity. In 1923, the institution came under the administration of the municipality within the framework of newly created Scientific Institutes of the City of Bratislava led by Ovídius Faust – the attention focused on economical, political and cultural life, construction development of the city, development of school system, industry as well as public life. Hand in hand with Faust worked three female curators with university degree: Gisela Weyde, Oľga Wagnerová and Alžbeta Mayerová (Güntherová) who deepened the museum’s historical and art-historical profile and published still referenced Catalogue of the Bratislava City Museum in 1933.

The inter-war period saw the professionalisation of museum work and expansion of exhibitions into the Apponyi Palace where the first municipal picture gallery or museum of viticulture were created. Step by step, exhibition spaces were open also within the Old Town Hall. In 1937, the museum also took over the Memorial House of the composer J. N. Hummel. At the end of WWII, the Scientific Institutes had to face the pressure to relocate their collections to Germany; thanks to the firm stance of Faust, then administrator, the collections were successfully saved and preserved right in the city.

After WWII, the museum changed its focus towards documenting Bratislava which was directly related to the city’s territorial expansion. With the onset of the communist regime after 1948, the institution faced a wave of ideological pressure; the new cultural policy of the state required, in particular, the showcasing of socialist progress and the history of the workers’ movement. Nevertheless, in spite of politically motivated personal purges of the staff, the professional level of research was maintained.

In 1953, the museum became an independent organisation under the management of the Central National Committee and gradually expanded the network of its branches. Within the then Institute focusing on national history and geography which was transformed in 1959 into a new City Institute with the same focus, the museum managed the Janko Jesenský Museum, Museum of Pharmacy, Memorial House of the illegal activity of the Communist Party of Slovakia, Museum of Viticulture or the exhibition in Michael’s Tower.

The institution became independent again in 1961 under the name of Bratislava City Museum. In the 2nd half of the 20th century, it experienced a boom under the leadership of Šimon Jančo; it transferred thousands of artworks to the newly established City Gallery and focused entirely on history. It gradually took over and renewed other city’s historical sites including the House at the Good Shepherd. At the same time, several new exhibitions were created, such as the Museum of Arts and Crafts, Museum of Clocks or Exhibition of Pharmacy.

Systematic archaeological research in Devín and Rusovce became a key activity, accompanied by ethnographic research in villages newly incorporated into Bratislava, such as Vajnory, Lamač, Záhorská Bystrica or Dúbravka. In the 1970s, the museum developed dynamic acquisition activity focusing on documentation of everyday life of townspeople. This long-term professional development culminated after 1985 when the museum opened new exhibitions to the public including the exhibition of Devín hillfort and exhibition of antiquity in Rusovce.

Open institution for the 21st century

The fall of the Iron Curtain opened up new possibilities for the museum. The budget for acquisitions decreased, but the institution managed to adapt – it re-installed the exhibitions, renewed publishing of yearbooks and prepared thematic exhibitions. After 1989, however, problems resulting from impulse acquisition activities in the past became fully apparent. In this period, the museum finally managed to integrate two older collections that were stored within its premises for a long time: a part of Batka’s photographic collection and a set of documents belonging to Ovídius Faust (in 2012 and 2016).

The 1990s also launched an era of digitisation of collections’ registration by means of modern cataloguing systems and under the leadership of Peter Hyross the institution reverted to its original historical name – Bratislava City Museum. After the renovation of palace premises and the Old Town Hall, the museum’s offer extended also to modern exhibitions of the city’s history or interactive programmes for the public. In 2018, the museum celebrated the 150th anniversary of its establishment and published a monograph titled Vo víre dejín (In the Whirlwind of History) that covers its establishment, shaping and activities in detail.

The newest chapter, linked with the arrival of director Zuzana Palicová in 2021, marks the transformation of the museum into an open, expert-led and inclusive institution. A significant international success occurred in the same year when the Roman military camp Ancient Gerulata in Rusovce was included into the UNESCO World Heritage List as a part of Roman border system Limes Romanus. The museum also carried out major investment and development projects – comprehensive renovation of Michael’s Tower (re-opened in 2023), cross-border project Interreg Slovakia – Austria at Devín Castle and renovation of the Red Crayfish Pharmacy (2024). At the same time, it continues to deal with a long-term problem of collection storage and their relocation to a new deposition place in Vajnorská Street. One of the important milestone of the BCM is also the adoption of its first strategy plan for 2024–2028 that defines the institution’s goals in the area of professionalisation and inclusion.