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8/11/2019 Alexandra Bitusikova

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Transformations of a City Centre in the

Light of Ideologies: The Case of Banska

Bystrica Slovakia

ALEXANDRA BITUSKOV

Introduction

The square is one of the most significant outward symbols of medieval European cities. I

is not only an architectural element, but also an important socio-cultural phenomenon

The square is a symbol of urban life and it contributes to the integration of the urban

population. The historical development of any city finds its reflection in the city centre

which becomes a seismograph of ideologies and historical events.

The aim of this article is to outline the role and the functions of the city centre in

Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, and its place in urban life and urban symbolism in the cours

of historical development.

The square can be generally described as a public space that attracts heterogeneou

people and offers various possibilities of participating in city life. It is a place o

secondary group interaction. City spaces for secondary group interaction can be ordere

according to the degree of social heterogeneity characterizing the people who use them

Those spaces attracting the most heterogeneous population on the one hand, epitomiz

city life, and on the other, contribute to it by giving their visitors an opportunity to partak

of it (Leeds Love, 1973: 162). The square performs various functions that can chang

during historical development. In the past, central squares, especially in European

cultures, often performed the functions of a promenade and an arena for publi

presentation and relaxing. They served as places for military parades, religiou

processions, public celebrations as well as for the presentation of social status or fashion

and for leisure activities like walking, reading, mee ting friends etc. The market and trad

function of the square was always important, too. In the course of urban development

with the growth of the urban population and traffic, the functions of a square can change

Sociologists consider the city centre a special sociological category. Th e cit

centre is a significant multifunctional social space, a specific urban environment with

high concentration of various social institutions, social activities, intense social contact

and social comm unication, a space where the urban social life concentrates (Pasiak

1983: 101). Social multifunctionality is a dominant feature of the city centre and th


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ransformations of city centre in the light ofideologies

615

etc.).The square attracts and integrates the diversified urban population. It is a symbol of

city life.

Using the example of the central square in Banska Bystrica, I aim to describe the

importance of the square in urban lifestyle and its influence on the identity and integrity

of the urban population. The material focuses on the period from 1918 (the establishment

of the first Czechoslovak Republic) up to the present. This period is divided into three

important eras of the political and socio-economic history of Slovakia.'

The Slovak Republic was established on 1 January 1993, as a result of agreements

negotiated by the parliaments and govemm ents of the Czech and Slovak Republics. It was

the first time in Slovak history that the Slovaks could lay claim to their own state, with the

exception of the short period of the puppet Nazi regime of Jozef Tiso in 1939-45. For

almost a thousand years Slovakia was part of

th

multi-ethnic Hungarian M onarchy. From

1918 to 1993 the Czechs and the Slovaks made up the state of the Czechoslovak

Republic. In 1993 both countries started to write a new chapter of their histories.

Dem ographically, Slovakia is a state of 5.3 million inhabitants. About 85 of the

inhabitants claim Slovak nationality, 11 Hungarian nationality, and other minority

groups include Czechs, Poles, Ruthenians-Ukrainians, Gypsies and Germans. As to

religion, around 60 of the inhabitants are Catholic and 20 are Protestant (evangelical

church and denominations). Other religions include Greek-Orthodox and Greek-Catholic.

Banska Bystrica is a small city situated in the mountainous region of Central

Slovakia on the Hron river.'^ In 1255 it was granted important municipal and mining

privileges and rights by the Hungarian ruler Belo IV and became a free royal city. Rich

ore deposits of precious metals attracted first mostly German settlers. Silver and copper

mining sustained the dynamic development of the city. In the fourteenth and fifteenth

centuries, Banska Bystrica flourished as a major Central European mining city and was

well-known as 'the copper Banska Bystrica'. The medieval city, like other European

cities,

developed its economic strength through trade and commerce. The successful

development resulted in luxurious architecture palaces and residences of noble

families situated on the central square. Their Gothic and Renaissance facades are

adomed with simple mural paintings and sgraffito omaments. The bishop's cathedral

and the clock tower are two of the dom inating features of the square. Together with the

parish church and the barbican, with a tower located in the city centre, they create a

special concentration of dominant architecture that have become the main iconographie

symbols of the city on all vistas, paintings and postcards. Because of the high cultural,

architectural and artistic values, the square has been given the status of an urban

reservation.

1918 48

The first Czechoslovak Republic was established on 28 October 1918. Banska Bystrica

became an administrative centre of the Central Slovakian Zvolen District. At the

beginning of the century, B anska Bystrica had ten thousand inhabitants. Although the city

was situated in a region com prising a dominant Slovak population, the ethnic structure of

the city inhabitants was heterogeneous and was influenced by the historical development

of the city during the Austro-Hungarian Empire. German settlers who had developed

mining and craft activities, assimilated in the course of time, and in the eighteenth and

nineteenth centuries the majority of the inhabitants were Slovaks. The strong


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616

Alexandra Bitusikov

Slovak Republic

Figure 1 Slovak Republic

Magyarization (Hungarianization) at the tum of the nineteenth and twentieth centur

caused most of the Slovak inhabitants to claim Hungarian nationality for fear o

persecu tion. Ten percen t of the urban population were Jews (BituSkov, 1996a), After th

establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, the number of people claimin

Slovak nationality as a result of their free decision in the new democratic state grew

90 , but trilinguism survived until 1948 when the communist state was founded. T

predom inant religions were Rom an-Catholicism (60 ), Protestantism (25 ) and Judais

(10 ),

The period of the first Czechoslovak Republic is very interesting from a soci

cultural point of view. All social and cultural activities were concentrated on the squar

called M asa ryk 's Square^ at the time (Central Square before 1918), The square, lined wi

the palaces and houses of the former 'Ringbrger' and 'Waldbrger' (wealthy burghe

and mine-owners), was a source of pride, noted for its high towers, the fountain built

the Art Nouveau decorative style at the beginning of the twentieth century, amp

greenery and the Marian column dating from the beginning of the eighteenth century.

In the period 1918-48 the square was a multifunctional space visited by t

inhabitants of the city and the neighbouring villages as well as by irregular visitors lik

tourists, attracted to Banska Bystrica by historical m onum ents, natural beauties and an o

proverb: 'To live at Bystrica, and after death in heaven, is best'. Although the urb

popu lation w as differentiated by social strata, and by professional, ethnic and religio

affiliations that were also reflected in the spatial structure of the city, the city cent

contributed greatly to urban life and the integration of the heterogeneous urb

population.

One of the occasions of regular contact between the city dwellers was the promenad

The even ing promenade was particulariy exceptional. The square and all the towers w e

lit-up, a multicoloured fountain beamed in the middle and music played from the cit

radio. The Sunday promenade was a place for the display of city fashion and social statu

The symbol of the city dweller was a hat for women, a top hat and a stick for men. T

behaviour and forms of communication, especially greetings, were also different in t


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Transform ations of a city centre in he oj

6 7

Figure 2 r/i

upper part of the square and the castle area photo: A. Bituskov. 995)

of regular meclings and visual contact with dilTcrenl groups of the urban population,

regardless of ihcir social, ethnic or religious affiliation. It contributed to breaking down

the characteristic anonymity of the city, and it was also a means of social control. It

performed an impoitant function in facilitating social integration.

The square oifered various possibilities for social interaction. M ost of th ee afe s, pubs,

restaurants, wine bars and casinos were situated here (Bitusilov, 1996b). The Jewish

Casino and the Cily Casino were mostly visited by husinessnien. bankers, lawyers or

doctors, and weie used for playing cards, diinking wine and making business contacts.

Cafes and restaurants served various people, diffeientiated by piofessional and social

stiata. Regular visits to these places of entertainment, as a way of spending leisuie tinie

and as a means of interprotessional and social communication, belonged aiiiong the

specific symbols of urban life compared with the iural way of life.

The trade and commerce tunetion

o

the square was also very significant. Kvery

Monday a market took place on the square which was visited by the people froin the city

as well as trom the neighbouring villages and regions. Craftspeople and farmers IroiTi the

whole of Central Slovakia came to sell their products in the city. The atmosphere of the

market was described in memoirs and rendered in many paintings, among which the most

famous Is

The Market in Banska Bystrica

by Dominik Skutecky.

In the interwar period the square was a space tor various public meetings,

celebrations, religious processions, parades and political demonstrations (BitusiTov,

1995). The socio political tunetion of the city centre contributed also to the ideological

communication of the urban population. This communication started to become tense at

the end of the 1930s when the separatist movement calling for an independent Slovak


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618

lexandra Bitustko

former sociability was transformed into fear, uncertainty and suspiciousness. The life o

the Jewish community was violently interrupted by numerous restrictions and after Ma

1942 deportations. Several Christian families in the city and nearby villages offere

sanctuary to the Jews, but only a few of them survived.

On 29 August 1944, Banska Bystrica became the centre of the Slovak Nationa

Uprising which was the biggest anti-fascist event in Central Europe during the secon

world war. It was the square again which had an important function in the integration an

organization of all the anti-Nazi forces. Although the uprising was stifled by the Nazis i

October 1944, it is considered on e of the most important events in m odem Slovak history

The short after-war period was an era of restoration of the Czechoslovak Republic

during which the position of communists was strengthening. In February 1948 th

Communist Party took over the political power in the country which meant the end o

democracy in Czechoslovakia.

The years 1918-48, with the exception of the war period, were characterized by

democratic regime with its freedom, plurality and heterogeneity. The functions of the cit

centre revealed the m ultifunctionality of the space and its important place in the life of th

entire urban population. Generations of native inhabitants identified with the city throug

the square which belonged to all and was a source of pride. In the words of one witnes

'The square was a part of our local pride. Everyone who was bom and lived in the city

found the square 'ours . The significant role of the central square remains evident up t

the present day in the colloquial language in which the central square and the city ar

taken as synonymous ('I am going to the city' means 'I am going to the central square'

1948 ^9

The period 1948 -89 can be simply described as an era of communism. After the politica

and socio-economic communist takeover in 1948, the face of the city, including th

square, also changed. The first change was renaming the square from Masaryk's Squar

which sym bolized the former democratic regim e, to the Slovak National Uprising Squar

Most of the private residential houses and palaces on the square were taken from the

original owners and distributed under state ownership during nationalization. Almost a

historical buildings served as shops and offices; the backs of the houses and yards we

settled by Gypsies and impoverished individuals. This method of urban developmen

forced by communist ideology and intended to break the former social networks, wa

similar in all East and Central European cities.

The exterior of the square also changed. Some of the old symbols disappeared, whi

new ones arose. In the lower part of the square a high obelisk-memorial dedicated to th

Soviet Army was built that has changed the historical appearance and spirit of the spac

In August 1964 the Baroque Marian column supporting a bust of the Virgin Mary wa

transferred from the centre of the square to the less visible castle area. The reason wa

strictly ideological: the Soviet President Nikita Chrushchew was expected to visit the cit

and it was not deemed appropriate to present religious symbols on the central squar

Ironically, the ideological m otive served a good purpose. The column was transferred to

quiet place that has aided in its protection, since the square was transformed into the ma

arterial road of the city.

The increasingly dominant traffic function had a negative infiuence on the quality

life and environment of the square. It became impossible to organize any social an


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ransformations of

city centre in the light of

ideologies 619

Revolution and the Slovak National Uprising). The anniversaries of the Slovak National

Uprising were the most pompous. Thanks to them the faades of all the houses on the

square were repainted and repaired every fifth year. This situation lasted until 1989 when

the communist regime in the country collapsed in the velvet revolution .

The period after 989

In November 1989 the central square in Banska Bystrica (like squares in other cities of

the former Czechoslovakia) was filled with thousands of people yeaming for a new

future. After long years the square had become a place of free protestation of democratic

ideas.

Political and socio-economic changes soon began to be reflected by the square.

During restitution most of the buildings were given back to their former owners or sold to

private companies and banks. Many houses were transformed into luxurious private

shops,

banks, restaurants and cafes. The backs and yards of the houses were reconstructed

and transformed into residential houses.

Following contemporary European approaches to urban development, the

municipality decided to revitalize the city centre and started to orchestrate the complete

reconstruction ofth square. Within five m onths in 1994 the square was transformed from

a traffic junction to a pedestrian zone with new paving, a large mosaic coat of arms an

old symbol of the city on the pavement in front of the Town Hall, lamps, newly

planted trees, benches, drinking fountains and numerous garden cafes and restaurants.

The Marian co lumn has been restored to its original site, an event which attracted strong

public and media interest.

For me, as an inhabitant of the city as well as an anthropologist, the change in

peop le s attitude tow ards the city is especially interesting. The inhabitants, so indifferent

to their city in the communist past, have welcomed the change with a feeling of euphoria.

Many of them used to come to the square regularly to follow the building progress. The

new outlook of the square and the general reconstruction of all public places streets,

pubs,cafes, public transport etc. remained the topic of the day throughout the building

work. It has integrated the city population regardless of age or social status. Life has

retumed to the square now that it has become a space for various social and cultural

activities. In the daytime it is full of tourists and people who have come to relax, meet

business partners or friends. The evening promenade has been revived; and people enjoy

coming to the square for a walk or having dinner in a restaurant. In summer, various

cultural programmes and festivities attract people to the square (concerts, theatres, craft

markets etc.). New festivals and rituals have arisen and become very popular

Eurofolklore, Cultural Summer or Czecho-Slovak Rendez-Vous.

The reconstmction of the square has contributed to the revitalization of urban life. It

has reinforced the local identity and integrity of the inhabitants. Elderly people welcome

the sociable atmosphere that reminds them of the good old times of the interwar period ,

middle-aged people who were bom during communism enjoy the change and the

possibility of a new, fruitful social life, and the young generation consider the square

theirs

and feel comfortable there because it is the same busy and active as any

other European square.

The new square has become a symbol of intemationalization, westemization and

Europeanism, especially for the middle-aged and young people who compare the city

with other cities in Europe: When I sit in the garden caf on the square, I feel like I m in


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6

Alexunra Bitusk

Fij^ure 3 Tn

imher 1994

photo: A-

Bituskov. 1994

may differ. Most of the lourisls admire the bcauly of the reconslrueted historical

centre, but those who remember the 'old' square, have a different opinion. An Ameri

tour-guide complains:

I am sure ihc people of Banska Bystrica must be very proud of the work done on the square

I am not thrilled wiih il, I loved your medieval square though probably it couldn't stay ihat w

and (he renovations and cleaning up of the old buildings and the details are lovely; but I am

will bring my groups there anymore it is getting like home. Thai probably makes

(own burgers very happy. And now

is the end

hear that a McDonald's Restaurant is eoming there


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ransformations of a city centre in the light of i eologies 621

modes of dress and behaviour, interaction that leads to acceptance of social, cultural and

ethnic heterogeneity.

Conclusion

The square as a central public city space with various functions can be considered one of

the symbols of uri)an life. The example of the transformation of the central square in

Banska Bystrica in the light of its historical development shows how significant the role

of the square in the city is, and how it contributes to the vitality of city life and to

remaking the identity of the urban population.

The material reveals the points of coherence between ideologies and socio-political

systems, and the possibilities for social communication, contact and activities afforded

city inhabitants in different historical periods. The period 1918-48 was the era of the

democratic Czechoslovak Republic, The democratic spirit of the state was reflected in the

diversity of social contact in various clubs, cultural and religious events, tavems, pubs,

restaurants etc, concentrated particularly in the city centre. The city inhabitants were

allowed to participate in any activities and openly express or proclaim their views,

convictions and professional, political, religious or ethnic affiliations. The democratic

political system gave people the option of freely expressing their opinions, and the square

attracted and helped to integrate the diversified urban population.

The comm unist period of the years 1948-89 disrupted the integrity of the population.

The communist ideology systematically suppressed opportunities for social

communication in public places for fear of mass protest against the communist regime.

It tried to break the social networks and social activities of the interwar period. Instead of

diversified social con tacts, activities leading to isolation of the family or of the work team

were supported. The multifunctionality of the square was deliberately replaced with a

dominant traffic function, which condemned the square to become a public space of no

social importance.

The period after the collapse of communism has brought revolutionary political, econ-

omic,

social and cultural changes in the society. The municipality in Banska Bystrica decided

to revitalize the city cen tre and reinforce the local identity of the inhabitants. The complete

reconstruction of the square attracted great public interest. The enthusiastic reception of

the city inhabitants to the transformation of the square stems from several reasons:

1 The necessity for local identification of residents with their city, through public spaces,

symbols and rituals;

2 Th e disappointment of citizens (mostly urban citizens) with political developm ents in

Slovakia and an aversion to national symbols as a result of nationalism being imposed

on the population local or regional symbols and identities as well as the tendency

towards European identity have become more important and stronger than national

identity;

3 Th e psychological effect of change from a stereotyped and grey life under comm unism

which promoted uniformity to a diversified way of life, a plurality which symbolizes

the w es tem and democratic standard of living.

The reconstruction and revitalization of the central square in Banska Bystrica has

reinforced the local identity of the inhabitants. The process of change has not finished yet.

The squ are s reconstruction has been followed by the vast reconstruction of the castle


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622

Alexandra Bitusko

and does not differ in kind from city reconstructions in West-European cities. What m

be different, though, is the intensity of feeling and enthusiasm of city inhabitants in po

communist countries whose uniform life during communism has been transforme

giving them a chance to make social contacts in renovated and revitalizated public space

As a young student puts it:

The square has become a pearl of the city. Walking on the square makes everyone happy a

even romantic. It is now a square withoutbuses,and without people rushinghome.There are

same people here, yet different, in a different mood. I ant happy to live in this city.

lexandra Bituskov

[email protected]). Institute of Social and Cultural Studi

FHV Matej Bel University, Tajovskeho 40, 974 00 Banska Bystrica, Slovakia.

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