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The village of Predajná lies near Banská Bystrica in central Slovakia. In the past, it was known as a transit place along the main trade route that went through Zvolen County. For this reason, many cultural influences met there, and Predajná never established its own original culture.
On the left side of the postcard there is a pub from the times of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The owner's name is displayed above the entrance. The fact that a Slovak name, Snopko, had to be written as Sznopko, the Hungarian version, is a sign of the uneasy position Slovaks had in the monarchy. If somebody wanted to get ahead during Magyarization, he had to use Hungarian. Of course, this extended to changing one's name.
By Branislav Chovan
