In the eighteenth century the coronation city Prešporok - today's Bratislava - acquired many luxurious palaces: the Erdödy, Pálffy, Grasalkovič, Mirbach a Esterházy palaces. These palaces often received visits from many of the world's most famous performers and composers, such as Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Liszt...
The Erdödy Palace, which stands on the corner of today's Ventúrska ulica, was built by Juraj Erdödy de Monyökerek in 1770. Originally three houses stood on the site: The houses of the Kamper and Loránt de Inke families, and that of the old merchant family, Haindl. The Haindl House had in fact been sold to a Bratislava burgher Juraj Fúrher in 1701. Then in 1717 the house had been bought by Krištof Erdödy, guardian of the Hungarian crown and husband of Zuzana Pálffy de Erdeod. His relative, the regional judge Juraj Erdödy, had the houses knocked down. The site neighboured to the former mint, better known in modern Bratislava as the Istropolitana University. The new house was designed by the Viennese architect M. Walch. The building had three floors originally and an additional floor was added in the first half of the twentieth century.
It is laid out on an irregular floor plan of four wings with a rectangular courtyard.The entrance is arched with Prussian vaults with bands between the vaults and on the right side there is a grand stone staircase with rocaille ornamentation. The rooms facing the street have ceilings and vaults decorated with rococo stucco. The decoration is similar to French styles. The façade is divided by two flanking bays, vertically divided by pilasters topped by capitals with rocaille ornamentation. Rich stucco ornamentation is also found in the window ledges and under the supporting cornices. The third floor also has simplified and stylised ornamentation. Unfortunately the ground floor lost its original appearance as a result of reconstruction work in the 1950s. The Erdödy de Nonyökerek family was one of the most important in Hungary. They were descended from the Bakócz family, from who the Pálffy de Erdeod family are also clearly descended.
Their origin can be dated back to the year 1319, when the ancestor of the family, Mikuláš, is mentioned as castellan of Kecske castle, in the Sedmohrad region. The most famous members of the family are Peter, governor of Croatia, and his son Tomáš. The family also included three regional judges, two bishops, and 1760 Ján Nepomuk became the chief royal chamberlain. Juraj, the husband of Mária Gobertína de Aspremont, was an imperial and royal councillor and chamberlain to the emperors Francis I and Ferdinand V. His wife's family were directly related to the Belgian royal family. In November 2003 the Erdödy palace changed owner. It passed from the previous owner Allianz - Slovenská poisťovna, a. s., to a new owner, the company EASTFIELD, a. s.
