Leopold de Pauli’s Palace, Bratislava

The Pauli (Pállfy) Palace is a Baroque-style edifice in the Old Town of Bratislava, located at No. 10 Ventúrská Street, and is not to be confused with the Johann Pálffy Palace in Panská Street.

It was built in 1747, designed by architect Franz K. Romisch, as the seat of Count Leopold Pálffy (Leopold de Pauli), member of the influential aristocratic Hungarian family, who served as the main administrator of the Austro-Hungarian imperial property.

Among other features, the building boasts a large staircase made of hard Kaiserstein (a type of limestone) from the Imperial Quarry (Kaisersteinbruch) near Vienna, and has an interesting portal decorated with a relief, reflecting military career of Leopold Pálffy, the first owner of the house, as a general in the army of Empress Maria Theresa. There are also other war trophies, plus a pair of inner loggias found within the property. Outside, there is a garden with the charming musical Rococo pavilion.

Here, in 1762, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, then aged six, played a concert for the local aristocracy, accompanied by his father – the only concert that he gave in the then Hungary. Also, in his time, another great composer, Franz (Ferenz) Liszt, performed here in the first-floor lounge of the Palace, in 1820.

At some point in the past, the Palace was used a mint. From 1993 to 2012, it had housed the Austrian embassy. Presently, the musical pavilion and the Palace itself are both part of the Bratislava University Library.