About Us

The Slovak Spectator is Slovakia’s only English-language newspaper. It is published weekly by The Rock, s.r.o. publishing house and covers local news, culture and business. The company also publishes five special publications that appear throughout the year, including the acclaimed Spectacular Slovakia travel guide, the Book of Lists business directory, and comprehensive guides to local real estate, investment environment and human resources.

Meet the Team

Our History

The Rock s.r.o. was founded in 1995 to fulfill a specific, important role in Slovakia's development as an independent member of the international community. As Slovakia was becoming more widely known in the world, the world was eager for more information about this young state located in Central Europe on the border of East and West. But for someone who does not read or speak Slovak, precious little information is available. Since English is increasingly the language of global communication, it is vital for the world's and Slovakia's understanding of each other that there be an English-language medium to promote this mutual awareness.

The idea for The Slovak Spectator found its roots in late October 1994. Richard Lewis, Daniel J. Stoll and Rick Zedník were working for The Slovak Mirror, an eight-page monthly English-language newspaper that lasted three issues. They believed the Slovak market could support a larger English-language newspaper published more frequently. Along with Eric Koomen, they founded The Rock (publishing house), which was officially registered as a limited liability company (spol. s r.o.) on January 3, 1995. Lewis and Zedník were co-editors, Stoll the business manager and Koomen the financial manager. They decided to start with a 12-page bi-weekly.

The Slovak Spectator's Timeline

March 1, 1995
The debut issue of The Slovak Spectator hits newsstands across Slovakia.

July 1996
The first Spectacular Slovakia travel guide is published with 35 colour photos, six maps, information on 103 hotels, and 34 ads on a total of 11 pages.

September 1998
The Slovak Spectator becomes a weekly and launches its website, www.slovakspectator.sk (now www.spectator.sk).

October 1999
The first issue of Real Estate and Construction Guide is published.

December 1999
The first issue of Book of Lists is published.

February 2000
The first issue of Career and Employment Guide is published.

February 2001
The first issue of Investment Advisory Guide is published.

May 2001
The Rock, s.r.o. becomes part of the German-Slovak publishing house Petit Press, a.s. as it takes over a 75 percent share of the company.

December 2002
The Slovak Spectator launches an electronic version of its annual Book of Lists magazine. The website www.greenpages.sk becomes a source of information and contact details for companies and organisations across Slovakia.

July 2003
The Slovak Spectator launches an electronic version of its annual Spectacular Slovakia travel guide magazine. The website (www.spectacularslovakia.sk) becomes a source of tourist information about Slovakia.

October 2004
The debut issue of Spex magazine hits newsstands across Slovakia.

February 2007
The Slovak Spectator launches a project called Na Slovensku po anglický (In Slovakia in English) that distributes free copies of its weekly to universities across Slovakia.

December 2007
The Slovak Spectator website (www.spectator.sk) gets a complete redesign, bringing daily updated news and more comprehensive services.

May 2008
The Slovak Spectator launches its its new sub-site, living.spectator.sk focusing on real estate. The site contains a wide range of properties, user-friendly navigation and extensive photographs, as well as information on different regions of Slovakia, and several articles on the subject of real estate and housing.