Discover the Albrecht House

On the ground floor, we worked on the interior furnishing of the café, we installed a service counter, chairs, tables, benches, and lighting, we finished the staircase to the 3rd floor, supported columns in the attic, and we prepared the space for the coworking facility. In May, we set up a library inherited from music historian Ladislav Kačic in the former office of Jan Albrecht, and in June, we organized our first exhibition - Parisian Life - by photographer and friend Pat Callahan, which thematically corresponded with our Domus & Hortus artis 2025 festival. It was dedicated to French music and its influence on other European cultures, including Slovak. The festival featured dozens of national and international artists in 16 concerts, presenting works by 69 composers, 29 of them French and 6 Slovak. On the summer stage, Lash & Grey, Fats Jazz Band performed, Simona Šaturová conducted summer singing courses, o.z. Albrechtina and J. K. Festival. Mertz presented their concerts, workshops, and master classes. We have organized or co-organized nearly five dozen events, including an exhibition of historical musical instruments, and we have prepared a programme for 2026, dominated by the theme of The unplayed and the unknown. We were supported by FPU, Bratislava-Staré Mesto, Bratislava City Foundation, SOZA, HF, French Institute, Polish Institute, and BKIS. Bratislava-Staré Mesto awarded Ján Albrecht in memoriam with the highest award of the municipal district - the Richter Jacob Award. We thank all who supported us!

The year 2023 was a year of intensive work in the interior of the house: we insulated the roof of the building, completed and made functional the sanitary facilities in the house, had a feasibility project for the future café drawn up, completed the installation of the electrical wiring, levelled the floors before laying the wooden floors, and made the final adjustments to the vertical structures on the 2NP, commissioned the construction of the acoustic ceiling and floor in the concert hall, installed sanitary fittings throughout the building, commissioned the heating system throughout the building, fitted new doors on the 3NP and restored and installed the arts and crafts repaired original doors on the 1NP and 2NP. Our fourth annual Hortus Artis summer festival featured artists from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany, and Sweden; we performed a number of works by Slovak composers and composers, bringing to life music from centuries past in our area and the rest of Europe. As in previous years, in 2023 we were supported by the Fund for the Support of Arts, the Bratislava Self-Governing Region, the City of Bratislava through its foundation and SOZA. The grant of the VÚB Foundation for the finalisation of the chamber concert hall and the Albrecht family memorial room helped us immensely. Without their help we would not be here, thank you!

The Albrecht House began to live a busier artistic life. We organized the second year of the chamber concert series in the garden of the Albrecht House Hortus Artis 2021. We were visited by Konvergencie festival, the J. K. Mertz Guitar Festival, Opera Aeterna project, Viva Musica! Festival, NUDE theatre, Lash&Grey, Fats Jazz Band, Novum Foundation, author readings (Eva Borušovičová, Silvester Lavrík), Music at Fulla's, and others. We were again part of the Weekend of Open Parks and Gardens event. The garden became a place of relaxation, absorption of artistic expressions, and reflection. With the financial help of Bratislava Self-Governing Region, we completed the reconstruction of the heating system, Bratislava - Staré Mesto financially supported the construction of a gazebo with a green roof, Hortus Artis was organized thanks to the support of the main partner of the project Slovak Art Council and contributions from the Music Fund and SOZA. More than 150 people contributed to the 2020/2021 fundraising campaign by buying different artistic objects and through donating money. Thank you!

For future memorial spaces, we borrowed the original furniture of the house from the time of the Albrecht family. We replaced all the exterior doors and had the interior doors crafted. Lenka Hlubinová completed the project of revitalizing the garden and at the end of the summer, we set up the garden. Architects Katka Šimončičová and Eva Šperka completed the entire interior design of the house, we put a part to be produced. Archaeological research continued - this time in the garden area and at the place for the retention tank for rainwater collection and watering. In the courtyard, which turned into a garden, we co-organized an event as part of the One World festival. Michal Hvorecký hosted Sacha Batthyany, and the duo Plaisirs de Musique performed in a concert. As in other years, Zuzka Godárová presented the house on guided walks through Bratislava this year.

We replaced the wiring in the whole building and applied new plasters on the first and second floors. We organized a series of events Sunday at the Albechts dedicated to music, literature, and film, featuring the Mucha Quartet, Teo Gertler, Katka Máliková, Vladimír Godár, Mila Haugová, Mária Ferenčuhová, Radovan Potočár, Martin Śulík, Peter Bebjak, Martina Buchelová, and others. We worked with supporters who did not lose their courage to continue. We co-organized the Kapitulské dvory (Open courtyards at Kapitulská street event) again.

All old plumbing and wiring were dismantled, and its complete replacement began. The paintings were restored in the former Albrecht's salon, and a part of the courtyard near the eastern staircase was rebuilt. There were concerts of the J. K. Mertz Guitar Festival, Konvergencie Festival, and other performances during the spring and autumn during the Kapitulské dvory (Open courtyards at Kapitulská street event) were held. With the support of the Slovak Philharmonic, we organized a benefit concert in Reduta. The conductor James Judd performed pro bono alongside Simona Šaturová and Marian Lapšanský.

Archaeological research began in the house and the adjacent courtyard. The foundations of the building were repaired, the humidity of the vertical structures of the ground floor was repaired, the entire length of the building was dug out of the courtyard part, lowered courtyards next to the house with sewerage were created, ventilation and dehumidification of the building were installed using the IGLU system. We organized other volunteering events. Slovak fine artists donated their works to the renovation of the house, part of which was sold at an auction in SOGA.

We defined the intention to restore the site, had the architectural project of the future cultural center processed by the architect Peter Mravec, submitted the project for a building permit, and carried out static security works - replacement of the ceilings of the second floor, truss, and roofing. We organized the exhibition Albrechts - Memories and Desires.