Residential complex 01
Although the residential area is not a homogeneous complex of buildings, considering it was built continuously in various time periods, all objects are situated closely to the sugar mill district, along the Školská Street and to the west of the sugar mill. There was a representational neighborhood built with the mansion for the Chief Executive of the sugar mill and also a mansion for Oskar Pfeffer, who was the Chief Clerk and later the Chief Executive. On the land between the two mansions there was a pair of residential buildings built for housing the Senior Executives of the sugar mill.
Both historical mansions were built sometimes in the first quarter of the 20th century. Because of their structural style, and the fact that they were equipped with luxurious furniture, they were destined to represent the wealth and success of its founders. The couple of residential buildings with garages situated on the southwest of the sugar mill were constructed sometimes between 1904 and 1924. The buildings represent architectural style of a higher standard and at the same with its gracious art nouveau style brighten this part of the city.
The oldest object of this complex is the Wollner Mansion, which served as a tavern, located at the busy corner of Školská and Cukrovarská Street. It was built by a businessman, David Wollner, at the beginning of the 20th century. Next to it, on the Školská Street there is the house of the local Pharmacist. On the other side, on Cukrovarská Street, stands the house of Doctor Pongrácz. They are both private mansions built in the 1920s. They document, that in this neighborhood there were mainly mansions built for the wealthier population, back then so called Diószegh.
Naďa Kirinovičová, Jana Váňová
Residential complex 02
The developing industry of Diószegh, which consisted of the sugar mill, cannery, limekiln and the distillery, provided employment for large amounts of people from the close and distant area. The sugar making industry was a seasonal one, lasting from the end of September until the end of December. In the sugar mill the stable long-term employees worked, but during the busiest times it was necessary to hire many seasonal workers, often from the close district of the sugar mill. During the high season, the sugar mill provided work for hundreds of people, who worked in the agricultural production and often carried out side jobs for the sugar production, such as help in the warehouse, feeding the animals and so on. The employment was also assured by jobs such as repairing or maintenance of the industrial and agricultural equipment. The cultivation of crops or commodities and the animal farming were mainly concentrated at the estate, where people worked on fields belonging to the sugar mill, or rented by the sugar mill.
The housing for workers was assured by the workers colony, which consisted of a group of two various types of houses concentrated in one area. In Diószegh the colony was located northwest of the sugar mill along the Cukrovarská Street. Not only could you find here houses for administration or for manual workers, but also stables in which there were kept domestic animals for workers’ own needs. The colony was build continuously all the way from the end of the 19th century and along the Cukrovarská Street from the beginning of the 20th century. The last construction phase were the 1940s after which followed rare reconstructions of the older buildings, mainly the reconstruction of stables into residential houses in the 1950s. A deep well of information are the years of construction carved into the building façade, directly under the roof’s peak. The housing for seasonal workers was provided by the workers hotel, which was built to the south of the cannery sometimes in the 1940s. The solitary building constructed from bare bricks is marked by the uncommon motif of a veranda and also the semicircular niche on the main facade of the building. It is assumed that the niche housed an unknown statue, which unfortunately no longer exists. The workers colony in Sládkovičovo together with the workers hotel is one of the few well-preserved buildings of industrial housing colonies from the first half of the 20th century. In entire Slovak Republic it is one of few which is preserved as a whole complex of buildings, not just individual buildings.
Naďa Kirinovičová
