Petronell-Carnuntum

"... all other thoughts were chased away as I approached the little town of Petronell, by wondering what a distant object could be that was growing steadily larger as I advanced. It turned out to be a Roman triumphal gateway standing in the middle of a field like a provincial version of the Arch of Titus; alone, enormous and astonishing."

The Roman gateway or 'Heidentor' that Paddy saw is part of a triumphal arch of which only one of its four arches remains. It was the gateway to the Roman City (Römerstadt) of Carnuntum. In the first century AD Carnuntum became the centre of the Roman fortifications along the Danube between Vienna ('Vindobona') and Brigetio (near Komarom in Hungary).  It remained a Roman settlement until the fifth century with approximately 50,000 inhabitants at its peak.

Photo below:  The Roman gateway or 'Heidentor' in Petronell-Carnuntum.

Bad Deutsch-Altenburg

"In the late afternoon I knocked on the gate of Schloss Deutsch-Altenburg - a wooded castle on the Danube's bank.  Friends in Vienna had asked the owner to put me up for the night and old Graf Ludwigstorff, after a kind welcome, handed me over to his pretty daughter Maritschi."

'Altenburg' was first mentioned in a document in 1297. The long-time rulers here were the knights Dörr von Wildungsmauer, who owned German Altenburg from the middle of the 12th century until 1620. The Knights of Dörr were also the first to commercially exploit the healing powers of the sulphurous water by setting up a thermal bath here in 1549. However, the thermal baths were already used by the soldiers of Carnuntum in Roman times. After his short stay at the castle, Paddy moves on to Hainburg.

Photo below: Schloss Deutsch-Altenburg.

Hainburg an der Donau

"I was through the barbican in the old walled town of Hainburg early next day."

Hainburg an der Donau once was a significant location on the Amber Road from the Mediterranean to the Baltic Sea. It's also the nearest Austrian town to Bratislava (about 14 kilometers away). Due to its strategic location, the city has been a symbol of protection and security since the Middle Ages with heavily fortified walls, town gates and towers.

Photos below: The castle (1050 AD) on top of the hill (photo top left) and some of the fortifications of the city of Hainburg an der Donau.

Thebes (Devin)

"Castled hills rose from the shore, and soon, under the ruins of Theben, the battle-haunted fens came to an end on the other side of the river. Below this steep rock, the March - which is the Czech Morava - flowed into the Danube from the north, marking the Czechoslovak border."

The ruins of the imposing fortress of Thebes ('Hrad Devin') rise from the rocky massif at the confluence of the Morava and Danube rivers. This is where the Danube breakthrough of the Theban Gate begins, formerly known as the 'Porta Hungarica'.

Photos below: the ruins of Thebes on the northern shore of the Danube, just east of Hainburg an der Donau. '... the last bastion to be stormed by Asian invaders before laying siege to Vienna.'

Bratislava (Pressburg)

'Bratislava was full of secrets. [...] It was the old city of Pressburg, re-baptized with the Slav name of Bratislava when it became part of the new Czechoslovak Republic. The climbing roofs were dominated by a hill and the symmetry of the huge gaunt castle and the height of its corner-towers gave it the look of an upside-down table.'

Bratislava Castle is first mentioned in the 10th century. In the 16th century the castle was the coronation seat of the Hungarian kings after they were expelled from Buda by the Turks. The castle had fallen into disrepair after a fire in 1811. It was not until 1953 that it underwent a major renovation and acquired its current shape and radiant white color.

Photo below on the left: Bratislava Castle on the hill above the Danube overlooking the capital.

Photo below on the right: shows what the ruined castle looked like when Paddy was in Bratislava, before the restoration of the castle began in 1953.

In Bratislava, Paddy stays with Hans Ziegler, a bank employee whom he befriended during his stay in Vienna. 'Whenever he had a free moment, we explored the surviving relics of the town, plunging through arched barbicans and along twisting lanes in our search; journeys which ended with cakes stuffed with nuts and poppy-seeds in a wonderful Biedermeier café called the Konditorei Maier [...]'

Photo below on the left: 'Konditorei Maier' opened its doors in 1873 and still exists today as 'Kaffee Mayer' in the centre of Bratislava. The statue in front of Kaffee Mayer is of a well-known personality, 'Schöner Naci'. His name in German means "the beautiful Ignacio". Though poor and mentally ill, he never neglected his appearance and was always dressed impeccably in tuxedo, top hat, and white gloves, with a cane in his hands. He died of tuberculosis in 1967 after years of living on the charity and the food from the cafes of the city and occasional work as a cleaner.

Photo below on the right: overview of Bratislava from the south bank of the Danube with the illuminated castle on the Schlossberg, in Paddy's days a 'harlot's nest'.

After leaving Bratislava on the 19th of march 1934, Paddy deviates from his route along the Danube. The reason for this is that he gets a place to stay with Baron Philipp ('Pips') Schey via friends of Hans.

"The Barons Schey von Koromla, to give them their full style, were an extremely civilized Austrian-Jewish family - friends of artists, poets, writers and composers [...]. I had met Pips Schey (as he was universally called) but only for a moment. He was a fascinating and many-legended figure and he lived about forty miles east of Bratislava. Telephones had rung and I was expected in two days."

Kövecses (Štrkovec)

It was a challenge for Paddy to find the place where the baron lived, the village of Kövecses. After it turned out that he had walked in the wrong direction, he took a bus back to Bratislava and then took the train to Sered. There he gets a lift to the baron's castle ('Kastely') in Kövecses. In my case the location was difficult to find because the names of many villages in Slovakia had changed during the last century. This is how Kövecses turned into Štrkovec. That is (also) a village in the southeast of Slovakia, but after some research it also turned out to be a small hamlet with the same name 'Štrkovec' that fits Paddy's description, south of Šoporňa along the river Vah.

"I found Baron Schey in his library in a leather armchair and slippers reading Marcel Proust.[...] These days at Kövecses were a sojourn of great delight and an important private landmark."

During his stay with Baron 'Pips' Schey, they go hiking together, hunt and have long conversations about literature and art. The Baron has an important influence on Paddy. They never see each other again but continue to correspond for many years. 

Photos below: the little hamlet of Štrkovec, south of Šoporňa, where Paddy stayed with Baron Pips Schey,

Photos below: en route to Nové Zámky along the Vah river.

Photo below: Nové Zámky in Slovakia. Nowadays Nové Zámky is a medium-sized agricultural town. In the 16th century there was a castle here for protection against the Turks. This castle was demolished in the 18th century.

Esztergom

"Far away on the other bank I could see my destination; it had been growing steadily in size since my first glimpse that morning. A cliff loomed over a long sweep of the river and on this ledge was perched a white fane that resembled St. Peter's in Rome."

The Castle Hill of Esztergom, on which the famous Basilica was built from 1851 to 1905, was both easily defendable and easily accessible. So it is not surprising that the castle hill of Esztergom became first the seat of the Hungarian kings and later the most important center of the Hungarian Catholic Church. 

Photos below: The basilica of Esztergom on the banks of the Danube.

Photo below: along the banks of the Danube between Esztergom and Budapest.

Visegrád

'The track following a wall of fortification downhill through slants of beech and hazel, levelled out before a great tower on a knoll [hill]; and a final wet scramble brought me down into Visegrád.' In Roman times there was already a fortress at the location of Visegrád and in the 9th century Slavic tribes settled here. After Mongol invasions in the first half of the 13th century, King Bela IV fortified the strategic place along the Danube.

'His [King Bela IV] task resembled the founding of a new kingdom, and the first step was to make it secure against the Mongols. Hence the castle that I was striding through at Visegrád. Up went this tremendous stronghold and many others followed; and the next time the Mongols invaded, they were repulsed.

Photos below: the Visegrád Castle or Citadel, the highest sight of Visegrád and a knight statue along the Danube.

Budapest

Then, suddenly, illumination came. I was in Budapest. Little remains of the journey from Szentendre, a confused impression of cobbled approaches, the beginnings of tramlines, some steep streets and airy views of the Danube and its bridges and the search for the hill of Buda'.

Photo below: the parliament building (1902) and the Margaret Bridge that connects Buda and Pest across the Danube and linking Margaret Island to the banks of the river.

'Precariously linked by boat or, briefly each year, by the ice, Buda and Pest, the names as well as the places, were joined to each other only in the 1840's. One was often told that the tremendous Széchényi chain-bridge was built by two Scotsmen, the Brothers Clark'.

The Széchényi chain-bridge (1849) was designed by English engineer William Tierney Clark and built by Scottish engineer Adam Clark (same surname but not related however). The bridge is 375 metres long and was the first bridge in Hungary over the Danube.

Photos below: the Széchényi chain-bridge.

Paddy is staying with friends on the hill of Buda. 'I was back among barons and these ones lived on the steep hill of Buda (the Vár or Citadel) which lifted the empty Royal Palace high above the right bank of the River'. [...] 'Apart from a few old streets and squares, the smart Dunapalota Hotel and the cheerful and pleasure-loving waterfront - especially the Patisserie Gerbaud, a dashing Gunters-like meeting place by the statue of the poet Vörösmarty - I liked Pest much less than my own side of the town, but I never tired of surveying it from the Fisher Bastion. 'The Fisher Bastion is a 19th century fortress with seven watchtowers. It runs from behind the Coronation Church (or Matthias Church) down towards the Danube.

Photo below on the left: the Dunapalota hotel.

Photo below on the right: Patisserie Gerbaud (1858), built in 'Gründerzeit' style.

Photos below: The Coronation church or Matthias church and the statue of King Stephen I holding a double cross.