What excited Hans Christian Andersen in Bratislava?

The answer:

painting of a perjured councilman on the Old Town Hall, panorama of the city from the Danube, Bratislava Castle and Devín

Hans Christian Andersen visited Bratislava (then Prešporok) on June 3, 1841, during his trip to Central Europe. Although he spent only a short time in the city, it left a deep impression on him, and his diary entries document everything he saw. Andersen arrived by steamer on the Danube from Komárno. While the ship's crew replenished coal, he went for a quick tour of the city. In less than two hours, he only managed to walk through the nearest city center. He walked in the area of ​​today's Hviezdoslav Square and the adjacent streets, where his monument now symbolically stands.
As a storyteller, he was intrigued by a painting of an alleged perjured councilman in the Old Town Hall, who had been kidnapped by the devil and pressed into a smooth wall like a colorful shadow. He noted: "A painting painted on the wall al fresco above the portal. It is of an old man in a black coat and with a long beard, bent over a book. It is a terrible story."
In his diary, he specifically mentions our two castles. He was fascinated by the sight of Bratislava Castle, which at that time had been in ruins for thirty years (since the great fire in 1811), but he considered it a visual dominant of the entire landscape around the Danube. He wrote in his diary: "The castle, a huge ruin without windows, looks like a lonely royal crown on a hill."
He was also enchanted by Devín and wrote in his diary: "These are the most beautiful ruins on the entire Danube. Devín, this is something that can only be sent from heaven."
On the same day, from the ship, he witnessed a massive fire that broke out on Devín and consumed half of the village below the castle before his eyes.
It is clear from his authentic notes that he perceived Bratislava mainly through its panorama, the Danube, and the romantic ruins of castles.