The Primate's Palace is a neo-Classical palace in Bratislava

Bratislava

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...

's Old Town

Old Town, Bratislava

The Old Town of Bratislava is the historic center and one of the boroughs of Bratislava, in the Bratislava Region of Slovakia. It is coextensive with the smallest Slovak administrative district by area, Bratislava I. It contains the small, but preserved medieval city center, Bratislava Castle and...

. It was built from 1778 to 1781 for Archbishop József Batthyány, after the design of architect Melchior Hefele.

The palace and its most famous chamber, the Hall of Mirrors, have played host to many significant events. Perhaps the most famous of them is the signing of the fourth Peace of Pressburg by Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein

Johann I Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein

Johann I Joseph, Prince of Liechtenstein, born Johann Baptist Joseph Adam Johann Nepomuk Aloys Franz de Paula was the Prince of Liechtenstein between 1805 and 1806 and again from 1814 until 1836...

, Ignácz Gyulay and Charles Maurice de Talleyrand in 1805 after the Battle of Austerlitz

Battle of Austerlitz

The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition...

, which effectively ended the War of the Third Coalition. The opening sessions of the Hungarian Diet, which convened in the University Library, took place here as well. István Széchenyi

István Széchenyi

Széchenyi committed suicide by a shot to his head on April 8, 1860. All Hungary mourned his death. The Academy was in official mourning, along with the most prominent persons of the leading political and cultural associations...

 offered his yearly income to establish here the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Hungarian Academy of Sciences

The Hungarian Academy of Sciences is the most important and prestigious learned society of Hungary. Its seat is at the bank of the Danube in Budapest.-History:...

. Here Ferdinand V of Hungary

Ferdinand I of Austria

Ferdinand I was Emperor of Austria, President of the German Confederation, King of Hungary and Bohemia , as well as associated dominions from the death of his father, Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, until his abdication after the Revolutions of 1848.He married Maria Anna of Savoy, the sixth child...

 promoted the first responsible Hungarian government (elsõ felelõs magyar kormány) and signed the April laws

April laws

The April laws, also called March laws, were a collection of laws legislated by Lajos Kossuth with the aim of modernizing Kingdom of Hungary into a nation state. The imperative program included Hungarian control of its popular national guard, national budget and Hungarian foreign policy, as well as...

, where Lajos Batthyány

Lajos Batthyány

Count Lajos Batthyány de Németújvár was the first Prime Minister of Hungary. He was born in Pressburg on 10 February 1807, and was executed by firing squad in Pest on 6 October 1849, the same day as the 13 Martyrs of Arad.-Career:His father was Count József Sándor Batthyány , his mother Borbála...

, Lajos Kossuth

Lajos Kossuth

Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva was a Hungarian lawyer, journalist, politician and Regent-President of Hungary in 1849. He was widely honored during his lifetime, including in the United Kingdom and the United States, as a freedom fighter and bellwether of democracy in Europe.-Family:Lajos...

, Bertalan Szemere, Ferenc Deák

Ferenc Deák

Ferenc Deák de Kehida , , was a Hungarian statesman and Minister of Justice. He was known as "The Wise Man of the Nation".-Early life and law career:...

, Pál Esterházy

Pál Esterházy

Prince Pál Antal Esterházy de Galántha was a Hungarian prince, a member of the famous Esterházy family. He was the son of Prince Nikolaus II and succeeded his father on the latter's death in 1833.-The basis of his wealth:For several generations, the Esterházy family had been exceedingly wealthy...

, István Széchenyi

István Széchenyi

Széchenyi committed suicide by a shot to his head on April 8, 1860. All Hungary mourned his death. The Academy was in official mourning, along with the most prominent persons of the leading political and cultural associations...

, Lázár Mészáros

Lázár Mészáros

General Lázár Mészáros , was the Minister of War during the 1848 Hungarian Revolution....

, József Eötvös

József Eötvös

József baron Eötvös de Vásárosnamény was a Hungarian writer and statesman, the son of Ignacz baron Eötvös de Vásárosnamény and Anna von Lilien, who stemmed from an Erbsälzer family of Werl in Germany....

 and Gábor Klauzál

Gábor Klauzál

Gábor Klauzál de Szlavovicz was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Trade during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 in the first government of Hungary. He studied in Szeged...

 Hungarian ministers were also present.

History

The city purchased the palace in 1903. During reconstruction in 1903, a series of six previously unknown tapestries

Tapestry

Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven on a vertical loom, however it can also be woven on a floor loom as well. It is composed of two sets of interlaced threads, those running parallel to the length and those parallel to the width ; the warp threads are set up under tension on a...

 were found behind a wall, depicting the legend of Hero and Leander

Hero and Leander

Hero and Leander is a Byzantine myth, relating the story of Hērō and like "hero" in English), a priestess of Aphrodite who dwelt in a tower in Sestos on the European side of the Dardanelles, and Leander , a young man from Abydos on the opposite side of the strait. Leander fell in love with Hero...

 and their tragic love. The tapestries were woven in the 1630s at the royal weaving

Weaving

Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...

 workshop at Mortlake

Mortlake

Mortlake is a district of London, England and part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes with East Sheen inland to the south. Mortlake was part of Surrey until 1965.-History:...

, near London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

According to old Hungarian newspapers, literary lectures and author evenings were arranged in its Hall of Mirrors between the two world war

World war

A world war is a war affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters....

s. Zseni Várnai, Aladár Schöpflin, Zsigmond Móricz

Zsigmond Móricz

Zsigmond Móricz was a major Hungarian novelist and Social Realist. He was among the earliest significant literary figures writing in Hungarian.- Early life and education :...

, Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...

 also took part in these events.

The scholar Paracelsus

Paracelsus

Paracelsus was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist....

used to live here briefly and there is a memorial plate commemorating his visit.