Handsome Naci, a friend to all


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Europe » Slovakia » Bratislava Region » Bratislava » Old Town
November 28th 2012
Published: December 1st 2012
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Bill and the jaunty manBill and the jaunty manBill and the jaunty man

What a friendly fellow though he is rather quiet now.
Since some viewers of our blog have asked about the photo Nancy put up earlier today, I will post it again along with it's story. In the literature our room at the Hotel Michalská Brána there was a description of the life of the man in the photo whose real name was Ignác Lamar, nicknamed Schöner Naci. The receptionist was kind enough to make a copy of the short article about him. I have changed a few words for clarity. Here is his story:

He was called Schöner Naci or Handsome Naci



During a stroll through Bratislava, visitors like to take photographs of the statue of Schöner Naci tilting his hat in greeting. On our first visit to Bratislava we saw the statue and did not realize that it was of a real man who lived in Bratislava during the first half of the 20th century and was widely known and liked by the citizens.

He was an eccentric on the streets of Bratislava. He was poor, but cheerful and courteous. He would wander the streets of Bratislava looking for work. At that time the German language was very widespread and people called him Naci, a nickname for Igná. One time a well-off Bratislava lady game him a tailcoat, pinstriped black trousers, a shirt, a jacket, a pair of black shoes and a top hat. This was his payment for beating the dust out of her Persian rugs.

When he started walking through town wearing this set of clothes, people began calling him Schöner Naci. He always changed into the work clothes he carried in his briefcase for beating rugs, and changed into his topcoat after work.

He was affable to everyone, bowed slightly and always spoke to everyone cordially. His popularity grew even more thanks to a newspaper article in which he made everyone laugh in an interview saying that he was from a rich family and engaged to a rich American.

The official painter Schurmann exhibited a portrait of him on the popular Bratislava promenade. After the war, some of Bratislava's new inhabitants thought that Schöner Naci had been held in a refugee camp for Germans. Schöner Naci explained in Slovak to everyone who called him by his old German nickname that he was just Handsome Ignác. He began to learn Slovak and succeeded quite well. Up into his old age he would wander under the windows of the girls' boarding house and sing serenades to the young students.

The statue was placed as a memorial to him. Each time we passed the statue on both our recent trips we have seen people taking photos, usually with one of their party standing beside Ignác.

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4th December 2012

Sloner Naci
Nice story. You two already have sooo many wonderful stories that enrich your lives. Nice to hear from you.

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