The village of Ivanka pri Dunaji

History of the village

The beginnings of our village date back to the fourth millennium BC, when the climate was warmer (on average by + 2 °) and the alluvial soil was created by inundation of the Danube water. People from the Late Stone Age with Neolithic culture lived here. They subsisted not only on hunting and gathering, but also on the breeding of cows, goats, sheep and over time they also switched to growing grain.

The first written record of the existence of the village is from r. 1209. It is a deed of gift by which King Andrew II. donated by Sv. Jur, Čeklís, Iwand, Eberhart and the village of Kastelan to Tomáš of Hont - Svätojurský for merits in the fight against the Bulgarians r. 1205 by the river Morava. Ivanka has been a part of the Farná settlement from the very beginning - the ancient property of the chapter and post office in Bratislava. As early as 1290, their servants and helpers lived here. Therefore, they were called "popné", "poppnepe", ie people of priests. (Pop - Old Slavic and still Russian priest). Due to the influence of Hungarian and German, the name changed: Popfolna - Papfalva - Pafár - Farná.

Parish and Ivanka have been a single political entity since 1932.

In describing the collection of the papal tithe from 1324 - according to preserved church documents - the village is listed under the name Terra Iwan, ie the Land of John. These documents also mention the existence of a church and rectory.
At the beginning of the 15th century, during the period of considerable German influence, Iwand became a German settlement called Aichen. In the 16th century, it passed into the hands of Hungarians, who called it Aicha.
After the defeat of the Hungarians at Mohács in 1526, when the Turks occupied a large part of Hungary, King Ferdinand I issued in 1553 regulation to describe all land courts - ports. Reason: collection of taxes. In this description, the village is referred to as Iwani. Its master was Gašpar Šerédy, a rich landowner in Bratislava County. Another owner of the village was Leonard Amade, then the widow of Tomáš Maholányi and Ján Jesenák.
In the middle of the 18th century, the Ivan estate was bought by Anton I. Grassalkovich, a landowner and a real secret advisor to Queen Maria Theresa. On the site of the manor house, which he gave in 1640 Leonard Amade built, he had a hunting summer house built in the Rococo style. At that time, in the northern part of the area, there were extensive oak forests, which served as hunting grounds, and the manor house with a beautiful Baroque park was used as a venue for various important social events. The new owner of the estate, Anton I. Grassalkovich, in addition to the manor house, also initiated the construction of other important buildings on his property. One of the most important is the Baroque church. He established and built a large farmyard - a mayor and a church school, which was located in close proximity to the church (next to the rectory) and served the Ivančany until 1928, when a primary school was built. After the death of Anton I, the manor was inherited by his son Anton II, who did not continue to increase the family property.

He spent a lot of money on the construction and maintenance of roads, on the breeding of noble horses and especially on the pompous way of life, cultivation and support of aristocratic culture. Following the example of his mother-in-law Mikuláš Esterházi, he organized various drama and opera performances and concerts in his palaces in Bratislava and Ivanka. We have a record that already in 1773 a ceremonial theatrical performance took place in the castle park in Ivanka, which was also attended by Archduchess Maria Kristina and her husband Albrecht, the governor of Hungary. However, the first official theatrical performance was in 1786 and since then the existence of the aristocratic theater scene in Ivanka is also mentioned. One of the first performers on this stage was the Seipp Theater Association, and the performances took place in German. For the needs of acting companies and musicians gave Grassalkovich II. to build a building opposite the manor house, which they named "Muzikantenhaus". As a reminder of this period, a Baroque statue of John of Nepomuk, built by Anton II, stands today on St. Rosalie Square. Grassalkovich in 1777. Legend has it that after one successful hunt, the guests of Anton II rejoice. they were returning by boat over the flooded arm of the Little Danube, which overturned with them and they began to drown. In mortal anxiety, they promised that if they were saved, they would have a statue of St. John of Nepomuk erected at the site of salvation. The Ivan landowner fulfilled this promise.

The Grassalkovich family owned the Ivanské estate until 1841, when its male branch of Anton III. she died out and their Romanian property came up for auction. At that time, it was bought by Michal Obrenovič, a Serbian prince who was a Serbian monarch. From 1842 to 1858 he lived in exile in Austria, and when the Ivanský estate lost its owner, he bought it and established a rural residence there. In 1853 he married the Hungarian noble count Countess Julia Hunyady. However, his marriage to Julia was divorced after ten years due to childlessness. At the time when Obrenovič lived in exile, he became friends with Ľudovít Štúr and, thanks to this friendship, in the summer of 1848 he contributed a considerable amount of money to the armaments of Slovak volunteers who were organized in Vienna. As a sign of thanks to him Ľ. Štúr dedicated his book "On National Legends and Songs of Slavic Breeds", published in Prague in 1853. At the end of 1855, Štúr, who lived under police supervision in Modra, secretly visited Michal Obrenovič on his estate in Ivanka. Unfortunately, it was their last meeting, because shortly after him Ľudovít Štúr died tragically.
After the great fire, which affected Ivanka in 1856 and significantly damaged the church, Prince Obrenovič had it repaired and also had other building modifications made - raising the ceiling, re-covering the roof of the church and exhibiting a new tower. At that time he also had the manor house modified. He removed the southwestern part of the existing building and built a tower in its place, which served as a reservoir, had a large common hall towered over the second floor and decorated with beautiful white marble fireplaces and a Venetian mirror. He entrusted this work to Italian masters. On one of the fireplaces we can still see the Serbian princely coat of arms next to the coat of arms of the Hunyady family.

After the death of Michal Obrenovič, the Ivanské estate passed through the court to the ownership of the Hunyady family de Kéthely, and its owner Júlia, who was the court lady of Queen Elizabeth, nicknamed Sisi, married for the second time in 1876, under the Prussian Prince Charles d'Aremberg. At that time, various building modifications were again made to the estate. All the representative rooms of the manor house were repainted and decorated with baroque boarding. The largest modification they made in 1886 was the reconstruction of the "Muzikantenhaus" building. This building was thoroughly repaired and another large room was added to it. It was to serve as a monastery for the sisters of St. Cross, which was invited to Ivanka by Count Julia. However, this plan did not work out, and therefore Julia set up a nursing home in the house, which she named the House of St. Charles. She served the children of her subjects, who received food and clothing here during day care. It was sometimes visited by more than a hundred children. The whole operation was carefully paid for by Count Julia herself. They considered the guardianship to be the most typical in the then Hungary. It was in operation until the beginning of the First World War, when the building was transformed into an auxiliary military infirmary. Countess Julia also took care of the needs of the church. She made sure that it was equipped with a dignified device, mass dishes, and in 1885 she bought two wooden statues in Brussels from the famous sculptor Malfait, St. Anton and St. Michala. She had them placed on both sides of the altar in memory of the church builder Anton Grassalkovich and Michal Obernovič, who rebuilt the church. These statues adorn our church to this day. She cleaned the crypt under the church and turned it into the family tomb of the Hunyada de Kéthely family. In addition to being very pretty, Countess Julia was also a wise and kind lady, whom her subjects confidentially called "Firštka" (from the German Fürst - prince).

In 1909, at an advanced age, she moved to Brussels, where she died in 1916. Ivan's estate was inherited by her nephew Karol Hunyady, who eventually left it to his impoverished relative Filip Boss-Waldeck (Ivanians intimately called it "Bodies"). He moved here in 1933. He made sure that the beautiful oak forests that lined Ivanka from the north side fell victim to his passions for playing. He had them cut down and sold the wood.

The Second World War affected the life of the village very significantly, which was related to its geographical location: the proximity of Bratislava. After the liberation of the village on April 2, 1945, the development of the village began to take a new direction. In 1950, the United Farmers' Cooperative was founded. This was merged with the State Property in 1962 and the national company Hydinárstvo was established, which together with the Research Institute of Poultry Breeding set the direction of the development of the village and provided employment for a large part of the population. In 1961, the Secondary Agricultural Technical School was established with a focus on poultry farming with nationwide coverage. An agricultural machinery repair shop was also established in the village. Some public-benefit buildings were built, such as a primary school, a shopping center, a health center, and cooperative and individual housing construction. The village was mostly gasified, a water supply system and local roads were built. Several scientific institutes of a departmental and academic nature were established, the significance of which exceeded not only the framework of the village, but also the borders of our state.