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WINTERS can be harsh under the Tatras, but summers are completely different. Just look at the romantically idyllic scene beaming from this postcard of Veľký Slavkov from the 1930s.
A settlement grew around the originally early-Gothic church in the 13th century. Before long, German colonists inhabited it. Tomáš Mauksch and Gregor Berzeviczy, two well-known Tatra experts from Slavkov who lived at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, were also of German origin.
Mauksch was a minister and botanist. He guided the English traveller Townson during his visit to the Tatras. Berzeviczy was an enlightened landowner who, along with taking care of his estates, devoted his attention to the topography of the High Tatras. He wrote a study of Studená dolina (valley) and the hike up to Lomnický štít (peak).
Prepared by Branislav Chovan
