Karacsonyi Palace, Bratislava

The representative city palace in the historicist style was built in 1883-1884, behind the Grassalkovich (presidential) palace. At the time of its construction, the architecture with its massive façade was already one of the important buildings on the new street from the old town to the newly opened railway station. Here a new, powerful business class of the society was settling down. The construction of the palace was carried out by Kittler and Gratzl at the request of the investor with Renaissance and Baroque elements, in the style of French royal architecture. The long façade has 31 window axes facing the street. Massive half columns and pilasters on the sockets, balconies, distinctive over-window pediments and niches with decorations create the grandeur of the architecture. Particularly striking are the mascarrons in the form of the heads of the ‘court jesters’.

Facade research and realisation by Novota art and spol.

The method of restoration on Karácsonyi Palace was very complex, due to the state of damage and the very rich architectural structure , as well as the variety of original materials – plaster, plaster stucco with marble rubble, artificial stone, ceramic prefabricated elements, metal, etc. The facade has been cleaned (pigeons, graffiti urban dust encroachment). The aim was to preserve the original condition as much as possible, to repair the plaster, to restore the details , in some places replicas of details were created. A uniform colour scheme in a golden ochre tone on the wall surface was also restored, with the plinth and projecting members having a lighter tone. BAUMIT materials have been used.Dark grey creates accents in some details and niches, in line with the original design intent.