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Template:Geobox Petržalka is the largest borough of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Situated on the right bank of the river Danube, it is home to approximately 115,000 inhabitants.

History

Historical records of Petržalka exist from 1225 . The settlement was originally inhabited by Pecheneg mercenaries on guard duty. Later, it became a recreation area famous for its gardens. In 1866, Petržalka had only 594 inhabitants and 103 houses.

Petržalka became permanently connected with the city of Bratislava in 1891, when the first railway bridge was built. Before this date only wooden bridges existed, but they were often damaged by frost and floods.

• 1910 – Of its 2947 inhabitants, 1997 were German, 495 Hungarian and 318 Slovak.

• 1938 – Petžalka was annexed by Nazi Germany on the basis of the Munich agreement, but after World War II was returned to Czechoslovakia.

• 1946 – Petržalka officially became a part of Bratislava.

• 1977 – construction of the housing blocks began.

• 2001 – from its 117,227 inhabitants, 108,600 were Slovak, 4259 Hungarian, 1788 Czech and 219 German.

• 2003 – Pope John Paul II visited Petržalka and celebrated a Sunday Liturgy.

The German name is Engerau or Ungerau, and the Hungarian name is Pozsonyligetfalu.

Local parts

Petržalka is divided into three official parts: Dvory, Lúky and Háje and further into unofficial parts: Ovsište, Janíkov dvor, Kopčany, Zrkadlový háj, Starý háj, and Kapitulský dvor.

Characteristics

Currently, Petržalka connects to Bratislava by five bridges, and is the most densely populated residential district in Central Europe.

Petržalka is primarily a residential area with most people living in blocks of flats called paneláks, a neologism for buildings built from concrete panels joined together, forming the structure, which were widely deployed throughout eastern bloc during the communist era. As the borough was built primarily as a residential area, it has no clearly defined centre.

Petržalka was also known, after opening the borders and in the 1990s, as an area with a higher crime rate than elsewhere, and also as centre for drug dealing, though today the crime rate is quite similar to the other boroughs.

Important institutions include Incheba, a congress and exposition centre, the Petržalka railway station and . Sad Janka Kráľa is one of the oldest municipal parks in Europe. There is also the Arena Theatre, established in 1828, and one of the oldest theatres in Bratislava.

Education and sport

University of Economics is located in Petržalka, with campuses situated in different locations in Bratislava.

There are 11 elementary schools and 19 kindergartens administered by the borough. Gymnasiums high schools include the state-administered Albert Einstein Gymnasium and Pankúchova 6 Gymnasium and the Mercury Private Gymnasium.

The borough is also known for its football club, Artmedia Bratislava, a participant in the 2005-06 UEFA Champions League.

Transport

Petržalka is connected to the rest of Bratislava by 5 bridges, of which 3 are used for local traffic (Nový Most, Starý most and Most Apollo) and 2 for international traffic (Lafranconi Bridge and Prístavný most). It is also located near a major international motorway junction, where the D1 and D2 motorways meet. The only railway station is located in the western part and it's primarily used for international traffic and for trains from and to Vienna.

Public transportation uses buses, which connect Petržalka with the other boroughs. In 1989, construction of a subway began, but was stopped shortly after the Velvet Revolution broke out. Instead, a high-speed tram (light rail) line is planned today, and its construction will begin in 2008.

Gallery

• Incheba congress and exposition center
• Arena Theatre
• D1 motorway in Petržalka at night
• Petržalka, near the site of the proposed subway. In the future, a new high-speed tram will be built here.

References

1. "Bratislava Projects at MIPIM 2007 – Petržalka City" (PDF). City of Bratislava. 3 January 2007. pp. p. 8. Petržalka City will definitely change the face of the largest and most densely populated housing estate in Central Europe: the network of grey prefabricated buildings will be transformed into a fully-fledged town with a self-contained multi-purpose centre. {{cite web}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
2. "Environment". City of Bratislava. 26 February 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
3. "Elementary schools directory (Adresár základných škôl)" (in Slovak). Petržalka. no date. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
4. "Kindergartens directory (Adresár materských škôl)" (in Slovak). Petržalka. no date. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
5. Albert Einstein Gymnasium website
6. Pankúchova 6 Gymnasium website
7. Mercury Private Gymnasium website
8. "Petržalka South City Development Area". City of Bratislava. 1 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

External links

• Official municipal website Template:Sk icon
• Panoramic photo gallery of Bratislava-Petržalka

v t e Boroughs of Bratislava by district
Bratislava I Bratislava II Bratislava III Bratislava IV Bratislava V Staré Mesto (Old Town) Ružinov Vrakuňa Podunajské Biskupice Nové Mesto Rača Vajnory Karlova Ves Dúbravka Lamač Devín Devínska Nová Ves Záhorská Bystrica Petržalka Jarovce Rusovce Čunovo

• Boroughs of Bratislava