The House of the Hungarian Parliament (1802-1848)

From Klarasszia Street, opposite the main high school gate, we reach the Arch in the old Parliament building, which leads to Mihály Street and Ventur Street. Here, under the Arch, is the city reference library, which opened on October 1, 1900. It is based on the previously existing "Haladó-kör" association library in Bratislava. The number of volumes in it is close to 7,000, and 10,000 including periodicals. The city covers the personal and material expenses of the library, which in addition spends 2,000-2,400 crowns annually to expand the library. For the same purpose, the state donates 2,000 crowns annually, and will contribute 40,000 crowns to the permanent premises to be built. The idea of a palace of culture will soon be realized, and this palace of culture will house the city's natural history museum, the planned permanent art gallery, etc., and the city's public library. ; From under the Arch we reach the new State House, which is one of the largest buildings in Bratislava. "It was built on an area of 540 square meters, in 4 blocks, under the supervision of Maria Theresa's court architect Hildebrand Lukács by the chamber architect Römisch in 1753. The front of the large building has more than 60 windows and above its gate is a magnificent ironwork balcony. An inscribed marble tablet applied to the wall above the balcony states the purpose of the building's construction as the administration of justice. ; "Curia Fisci Regii Hung. Regnante Maria Theresia Augusta Hung. Boh. Regina, Archduchess of Austria, Ut juncta Clementiae Justitia in ea perennet Amplior operibus a fundamentis extruxit A. R. S. 1753. Futura deserit, qui praesentia negligit." ; In this building called the Chamber, the Hungarian Orders and Principal Orders held their national assemblies from 1802 to 1848. In this building, on November 3, 1825, Gr. István Széchenyi founded the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, which on the same day in this very room, Gr. György Károlyi, Ábrahám Vay and Gr. György Andrássy donated significant sums for patriotic purposes. In this room, the Hungarian language was declared the language of legislation, public administration and teaching at the 1843-44 national assembly. In this room, for the first time in centuries, on November 7, 1847, the king (Ferdinand V.) spoke in this room. in Hungarian to the orders. In this room the glorious laws of 1848 were created. Recently, the public of the royal city of Bratislava placed the following red marble plaque on the wall of the building in memory of this: ; "The noble and noble orders of Hungary, inspired by the idea of national freedom, created in the conference rooms of this historically significant palace ; great works of immortal memory, ; The LAWS of 1848 ; and with them the modern Hungarian state. ; Eternal glory ; and the gratitude of the liberated millions of people to their memory. ; The scene of the great event is marked for posterity with this plaque ; to mark with patriotic enthusiasm ordered ; POZSONY regular royal city ; General meeting of the Legislative Committee held on March 7, 1898." ; ; (The change of empire, like many others, also made this sign disappear.) ; "From 1849 the building became a military barracks. In 1859 it belonged to the Royal Governor's Office, and after its dissolution the offices of the Royal Exchange Tribunal and the Royal Financial Procuratorate moved in. More recently, schools and a chemical laboratory were also located there. Most recently, since 1891, when the Royal Court of Justice located in Budapest was decentralized, the Royal Court of Justice partially occupies it. The area of operation of this court covers the counties of Bratislava, Nyitra, Trenčín, Liptov, Árva and Bars, as well as the royal counties of Bratislava, Nyitra, Trenčín, Rózság and Aranyos-Maróth. It covers courts and the 36 district courts subordinate to them. ; The Royal Prosecutor's Office operates in another part of the large building. It came into force on January 2, 1900, alongside the Royal Court of Cassation, but independently of it, with the entry into force of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Its jurisdiction extends to the same area as that of the Royal Court of Cassation. ; The other rooms of the building are occupied by the Royal Cadastral Survey Inspectorate No. VI and the Royal Cadastral Map Archive. The use of the building for these many purposes naturally brought with it a transformation in its original design. The old assembly hall was also completely transformed.” ; Since 1953, it has been the seat of the University Library.