The Bratislava Cultural and Information Centre organizes the Tourist Guide Course every year. We spoke with its youngest graduate, Nina Habardová, who revealed in the interview what studying history gave her, how the view of Bratislava has changed, and why the younger generation should be interested in local history.
If you are interested in the history of the city and would like to become a guide, sign up for our course. All information can be found on the website https://www.bkis.sk/kurzsprievodca/.
How did you find out about the Tourist Guide Course organized by BKIS?
Two years ago, I found information about courses on the website Rande s mestom. It appealed to me. At first, I joked that my friends were getting their driving license and I was going to get my tour guide license. I thought about it for a while, and then I decided to give it a try. I'm interested in history and I like Bratislava, even though I'm from Pezinok. I think I found myself in it.
I started the course a year after the coronavirus pandemic, which made me want to leave Pezinok more often, where I was almost constantly during Covid. I learned a lot about Bratislava, both about the people who lived and still live there, and about how multicultural the city was.
When you signed up for the course, you were the youngest student. How did you fit into the group?
At the beginning, there were about twenty of us and thirteen of us successfully completed the course. It was a diverse group of people. At the time, I was seventeen years old and the oldest were of retirement age. We were a group with different educations and interests, but I think we all understood each other because we were united by the topic of Bratislava.
What topics from the course interested you the most?
Monuments and fine arts. Our lecturer was Zsolt Lehel, his lectures fascinated me very much. They gave me a completely different and new view of Bratislava. Right in the first lesson, he told us that from now on we should look above eye level. That was something that has stayed with me to this day. A person suddenly sees the city and the world around them completely differently when they start looking around more.
Until then, while I was walking through the city, I mostly looked under my feet or into the shop windows. Now I also notice the upper parts of buildings, their interesting details, frescoes or paintings. I also notice memorial plaques that I had never noticed before and I do this in other cities as well. I think that makes walking through the city much more enjoyable.
What appealed to you most in Bratislava?
Probably the Primate's Palace. It's connected with the course. We had lectures at the town hall opposite it and we also had walking meetings by the well on Primate's Square. In addition, I like Gothic and Renaissance monuments, which is why Kapitulská Street is interesting to me. But lately I've also been enjoying exploring more remote parts of the Old Town, for example the Hlboka cesta area.
Do you have a favorite story from Bratislava?
Old Bratislavans claim that the statue of Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav on Hviezdoslav Square originally had short pants. The statue is interesting, as at one time people allegedly put fishing rods in its hands to make it look like it was fishing in the water reservoir in front of it.
The advantage of the course is that you also go into the field and try out the role of guides in practice. Were you nervous?
At first, it was big. I had an assigned street, but I wasn't sure what was expected of me. These exercises were very beneficial, I learned what I was doing well and what needed to be worked on.
I was worried about whether I would finish the course, but it appealed to me so much that I eventually decided to go to college to study art history. I had always been interested in history, and the course reassured me of that.
Why would you recommend the Tourist Guide Course to others?
The lecturers gave us a lot of information about Bratislava. I was able to ask them things that I couldn't find in the literature. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in Bratislava. Thanks to the course, I also learned how to speak better in public.
After successfully completing the course, you also became an assistant professor to one of the course lecturers – Zsolt Lehel. How is it working with you?
My task is to prepare presentations for lectures on the architecture and fine arts of Bratislava. I also found it useful for preparing for university entrance exams. I think we work well together, it's such an interesting intergenerational collaboration. Mr. Lehel is a distinctive personality and his lectures will appeal to many course participants. He is a native of Bratislava, he has been mapping its monuments for many years as a conservationist and you could say that he knows every stone in it, so I can learn an amazing amount from him.
I really appreciate this collaboration because Mr. Lehel is willing to listen to the opinions of the younger generation. We listen to each other and then the joint output of the lectures is created. I think he was the biggest inspiration for me to go to university to study art history.
Why should young people be interested in local history?
We should be interested in history so that it doesn't repeat itself. Young people leave Slovakia also because they don't have a relationship with the place they live in. They don't have the ambition to improve it. I realized that I started to feel much more at home in Bratislava after I learned about its history, the purpose for which various buildings were built and who lived in them.
What makes a good guide?
Personality. If they don't have an interesting presentation, it doesn't matter how much knowledge they have. But the opposite is also true. The person who guides must know the topic very intimately. It also depends on the group they are guiding. A guide who likes to guide older children may not be able to interest children. I enjoy the most historical walks for the residents of Bratislava and the surrounding area, where I can explain the place they live to them. It is also interesting to take someone who has never been here through the city. For example, I accompanied my friend from Canada in this way, and it was a different world for her.
You've already done two walks as a guide. Where can we see you next?
I will next be accompanying the Rande s médř walk on June 29. Participants will take a walk through medieval Bratislava from Michalská brána to Laurinská ulica. We will focus mainly on Gothic monuments.
The Date with the City walk is part of the Bratislava Cultural Summer, which is taking place for the 49th time. The program and information about other walks can be found on the website bkis.sk.
Text: Anna Jacková
Photo: Eva Amzler, BKIS Archive
