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THE PICTURE in this postcard from around the time of the First World War shows the spa resort of Nový Smokovec in the High Tatras.
The area was covered with dense forests until 1875, when Dr. Mikuláš Szontágh built a sanatorium there for patients with tuberculosis and Basedow's disease. A spa with water treatment, electrotherapy, and body scrub oil bathing was erected in Smokovec two years later.
The large and resplendent building seen in the foreground was built by Anton Müller from Levoča in 1882. It is in a Moorish style and has 28 guest rooms.
This picture was taken by Adolf Divald, who comes from a well-known family of photographers from northeastern Slovakia.
By Branislav Chovan
