Brezová pod Bradlom: A Proud Heritage

Brezova pod Bradlom (population around 5,498) is a small town at NW slopes of Male Karpaty mountains in W Slovakia. The first written mention on the town dates in 1595. The inhabitants earn their lives by cattle breeding, growing of wheats and fruit trees (mainly plums) and some crafts (in hte past, mainly weaving, soapmaking and tanning were the most usual). During the last century, some smaller mechanical industries were also established here.

The best known meals from here are the cabbage soup („kapustnica“) and ... (more)

Baranec Dam 1
as seen from Bradlo hill, with Male Karpaty N end in the background

Baranec Dam 2
as seen from Bradlo hill in detail

Baranec Dam 3
another detail; the dam was built in mid 1980s

Hurbanova Street 1
S end of the street with traditional architecture as seen from Vajanskeho street

Hurbanova Street 2
more traditional architecture at S end of the street

Hurbanova Street 3
and again the S end of the street

Hurbanova Street 4
This is the real old-time Brezova style!

Hurbanova Street 5
Note the big doors. They lead into the yard, not to a garage or house...

General M. R. Stefanik Square 1
E row of houses right in the center of Brezova

General M. R. Stefanik Square 2
again; the big house at the right (Stefanikov narodny dom) was formerly the...

General M. R. Stefanik Square 3
N side of the square

General M. R. Stefanik Square 4
Town Hall (left) is at the N end of the E row of the square houses

General M. R. Stefanik Square 5
as seen from its N side

General M. R. Stefanik Square 6
W row of houses from the N side

Town Panorama 1
as seen from Bradlo hill, will Male Karpaty range in the background

Lower End
as seen from Bradlo hill, with the green tower of Lutheran church in the center

Town Panorama Detail
as seen from Bradlo hill

Town and Baranec Dam Panorama
as seen from Bradlo hill

Town Panorama Again
as seen from Bradlo hill

Center Panorama
as seen from Bradlo hill, with Lutheran church again

Upper End Panorama
as seen from Bradlo hill; the traditional architecture in this part has been...

Upper End Again
as seen from Bradlo hill, with new family houses in the background

Upper End and Cementery
as seen from Bradlo hill, with Roman Catholic church (cream tower with grey...

Jan Hus Monument
Jan Hus was a Czech church reformer born 100 years before Martin Luther. This...

article published 12/28/2004

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My grandfather John Matis Sr., who emigrated to the USA in 1906 from Myjava was a boyhood friend of Milan Stefanik of Bresova. Myjava and Bresova are neighboring towns, and I believe both young men were involved in Sokol gymnastics.....Of course, Stefanik would have been the first President of Czechoslovakia, had he not been killed at the end of WWI. Anyway, Stefanik stopped off in Little Falls, NY in 1918 or thereabouts [where there were a number of families from Myjava] and spent the night. My father was a small boy then, but he recalled the conversation between the two men at the kitchen table, about how Stefanik was on his way to Chicago to try and gain support for the idea of forming a new country, Czechoslovakia.

John R. Matis (Colorado)
— John R Matis, June 24, 2008

Brezova pod Bradlom > Chicago 1892
Brezova pod Bradlom is a beautiful, historic place. I was fortunate enough to visit Brezova, Bukovec, Myjava (and much more Slovakia) in 1998 and 2000. My VALKO ancestor came to Chicago (as many other Brezovans) in 1892 and was founder of Trinity Slovak Lutheran Church. Four VALKO families are shown in the 1869 Hungarian census for Brezova. I would be happy to chat (English) with anyone interested in Brezova. george.valko@yahoo.com - www.brezovapodbradlom.com
— georgeIL, June 1, 2007

I will be traveling to Brezova this May to return my father's ashes to his home town. He was born in 1921 and came to the USA when he was 16, so we have much in common.
— John Mizialko, March 13, 2007

Thank You!
Thank you for the views of the hometown of my Grandfather.
— Bill Nosko, March 6, 2005

Sveto; Your pictures of Brezova and area are great. They filled a void in my life,I was always curious to know what the village my father came from looked like-- Now I know. Many progressive changes I'm sure since 1922 when he left and came to the U.S.at the age of 14.

Milt Nosko miltmarg@deepnet.com
— Milton Nosko, January 1, 2005