Grassalkovich Palace in Bratislava is the residence of the President of Slovakia.
The splendid rococo building has the white walls like the Castle and from always it is the symbol of the power in the Slovak lands. Before hosting the current heads of state and official events, the Presidential Palace was an important musical center and frequented by the Hungarian and Austrian nobility.
It was built around 1760 by the architect Anton Mayerhofer for the Hungarian aristocrat Antal Grassalkovich, a close friend of Maria Theresa. It has many rooms and an imposing staircase. The chapel is decorated with frescoes by Joseph von Pichler.
The building became a centre of Baroque musical life in Pozsony / Pressburg.The great composer Joseph Haydn premiered some of his works here. Count Grassalkovich also had his own orchestra and his "colleague", Prince Esterházy, used to "lend" him his favorite conductor, Haydn. Grassalkovich was the vassal of Maria Theresa, so the palace was used for various balls and parties of the Habsburg royal court. For example, it was Haydn who conducted the orchestra when Maria Theresa’s daughter married Albert of Sachsen-Teschen, then governor of the Kingdom of Hungary. It is said that Ľudovít Štúr first declared his love to Adela Ostrolúcka at a ball organised by Archduke Stephen Francis Victor (Buda 14 September 1817 – Menton 19 February 1867), son of the Palatine Joseph. The last owners of the palace before the end of Austria-Hungary were Archduke Frederick of Teschen and his wife Isabella of Croy-Dülmen.
The Grassalkovich Palace is found in the center of Bratislava in the square Hodžovo námestie famous for the Fountain of the Peace, decorated with a great planet to symbolize the earth.
