Michal Duchoň, head of the Bratislava City Archives, right, "christened" the book with archival dust. (source: Braňo Bibel)
Back in the 1970s, the then mayor of Bratislava ordered the head of the ZARES company, which was in charge of the city’s greenery, to cut down a linden tree growing in the middle of Primaciálne Square in the city centre. The real reason for felling the 80-year-old tree, which had been planted in 1896 to mark Hungary’s millennial celebrations, remains a mystery to this day. Nevertheless, the square did not remain without a linden tree for very long. In 1997, a new tree was planted there, not only for aesthetic reasons but also to serve as a much-needed oasis of shade in the summer, amid the desert of hot pavements.
The story about the linden tree on Primaciálne Square is just one of 34 chapters in the recently released book “History to Eat” (História na Zjedenie). The idea of issuing the book-length selection of articles, all of them originally published on the website of the civic association Bratislavské Rožky, which is dedicated to the history of Bratislava, arose after a book of selected articles from the Hungarian version of the website achieved considerable success.
“The online magazine “História na Zjedenie” has been in existence for almost 13 years and during that time hundreds of articles have been published on its website,” said Peter Janoviček, one of the compilers of the book during its launch on November 28, at Bratislava’s legendary V-club on SNP Square.
Zuzana Gogárová, Peter Janoviček, Jitka Rožňová and Ján Vyhnánek, from left. (source: Braňo Bibel)
