zvolen aka altsohl, SK

my dear readers, as you probably know, all saints is time to visit our family's graves in eastern slovakia, dont you? on the way i've visited the city of zvolen (altsohl) in central slovakia. why zvolen? well, last year i've seen the beautiful mining city banska bystrica (its old german name was neusohl), so i was curious if there is a city called sohl or altsohl as well. the answer? the old sohl aka altsohl is the city of zvolen today ... well, living in czechoslovakia, we did not know the former german names of cities / villages / mountains / rivers / etc. few miles away from our home as the german culture / language / minority and thus history of huge parts of czechoslovakia's past were not preserved well after the lost WWII, you know? 

anyway, dont loose your time on altsohl, better visit the much, much nicer neusohl (banska bystrica), my dears ... or the nearby mining cities of kremnitz (kremnica) with the oldest still active mint (münzprägeanstalt) in the world or the unesco heritage schemnitz (banska stiavnica). or all 3 of them. will you? 😊

the altsohl castle in zvolen was build by the hungarian king 

lajos I. nagy (louis I. of hungary / ludwig der große) in the years 1370–1382

there is ice-hockey + industry, esp. the timber factory bucina zvolen

this also could be the nearby ironworks zeleziarne podbrezova (?!?)

zvolen (altsohl)

zvolen (altsohl)

what a tasty dinner in zvolen we have had!

slovakia's route 66 (from hungary to poland)

stratena, central slovakia

traditional wooden houses in SK

spitzenberg + einsiedel a.d.G. (mnisek n/H), eastern slovakia, SK

einsiedel an der göllnitz (mnisek nad hnilcom), SK

the confluence of göllnitz (hnilec) and schmöllnitzer bach

(smolnicky potok) in einsiedel

i💖 grund + this beautiful woman. this is a joke, of course. i've found her by coincidence

somewhere on the internet in november 2024. it is strange, because i've not searched for

neuhaus or the hotel alte innbrücke, where we've been already soo often in the past.

einsiedel an der göllnitz (mnisek nad hnilcom) - part 'grund'

cemetery (totengarten), einsiedel an der göllnitz

our family graves ... R.I.P, dear mom + grandma + grandpa

bratislava castle. i've spent also few days by my youngest brother, you see?  

on the road in SK 🚗

good-bye, my native slovakia ... i hope to see you soon again 

more pictures here.

all hollows 2023 in SK here.

searching for a grave in eastern slovakia, SK

well, it was a sad reason for my visit in slovakia this early april .... my youngest brother + me went to einsiedel an der göllnitz (mnisek nad hnilcom) to find a place for my mother's grave ... but yes, it is the traditional cycle of life, isnt it? young people come, old people  go ...

the cold + rainy + snowy weather and my sad mood somehow directed my focus on ugly / destroyed / industrial stuff / ruins / death / false values (like the nasty communist propaganda in my old 1st class schoolbook) and the like ... a strange different perspective, isn't it? anyway, it did not last forever 😇

on the road. we've just crossed the hill over the stoss spa to enter 'our' göllnitz river valley

schmöllnitz (smolnik) as seen from the chapel. 

small orthodox church built by ukrainian chernobyl nuclear catastrophy refugees

the old tobacco factory 'tabacka' from 1872 is empty today ~ schmöllnitz

the former guest house pauker between schmöllnitz and einsiedel

the evangelic church in einsiedel an der göllnitz

the forest cemetery (called totengarten by the locals) bellow the spitzberg mountain

the catholic church in einsiedel an der göllnitz (mnisek nad hnilcom)

cout of arms of the zips region

beergarden in göllnitz

the yellow church is in schmöllnitz (smolnik) from the northern snowy side of the stoss mountain,

the white one in metzenseifen (medzev).

gypsy colony in jasov

gypsies in jasov

the krasna horka castle from the south side of the hill over stoss

zvolen (= altsohl in german), central slovakia

the altsohl castle in zvolen was build by the hungarian king 

lajos I. nagy (louis I. of hungary / ludwig der große) in the years 1370–1382

castle in bratislava (pressburg was the original german name) in western slovakia

two of us, my father and me 🍻

it's easter time, you know?

my almost 50 years old 1st class schoolbook 💾

my no. 1 poem about a violet (veilchen / fialka) i still remember today meets communist propaganda

communist propaganda ...

the karpatenblatt is the german minority's publication in slovakia

all of us, maybe xmas 2016? or 2016?

more sad pictures here.