Trencsén (Trencin)

The city is an ancient settlement. Its first written mentioning is from 1111. The castle must have stood by then. It stood up to the invasions of Czech kings and Moravian counts several times during the medieval period. Later it became infamous as the estate center of Máté Csák. According to today’s Slovak interpretation, Máté Csák, the local potentate, was the head of the first Slovak state independent of the central power of the Hungarian Kingdom. Yet, Máté Csák was not Slovak. He was a member of the Csák clan from Fejér county in central Hungary. But his estates actually covered mostly areas inhabited by Slovaks. He probably did not want to impress the Slovak serfs with his career of local warlords.

The foundations of a large castle on top of a hill rising next to the Vág River date back to this period. Today’s walls, however, are much newer due to the many sieges. It was last burned in 1790. At that time, unfortunately, the entire medieval castle was destroyed. Only old engravings show the earlier picture of the castle. Then, after 1918 the castle was considered by the newly created Czechoslovak state in northern Hungary to be a remnant of the old Moravian Empire. Therefore, in the 1920s, the ruin was rebuilt. Today, the reconstructed castle stands in the old light on a hill above the city.

The two images attached to the post show two different states of the castle. Most interestingly, one of the postcards issued during the Monarchy depicted the reconstructed castle. In the same way, the cap badge designed for the use by the city’s home regiment also shows the image of the complete castle. In the foreground of the 71st Infantry Regiment’s badge, a private fights with a Cossack rider with a bayonet. He apparently protects his family. Behind him, his wife and children hide. In the same way, of course, it protects the castle in the background against the invading Russians.