Baťovany – Partizánske: The Contemporary Re/invention of the Heritage of a Baťa Company Town

Abstract

The text focuses on the re/construction of identity and heritage conservation in the Slovak town of Partizánske. The town was founded as one of the industrial towns of the Baťa company at the turn of the 1930s and 1940s. Despite the efforts of experts, neither the town’s urban plan nor any significant part of it (except for the modernist church) is institutionally protected to this day. In this text, we offer an alternative approach to the re/construction of historical heritage and its institutional protection. In addition to qualities deemed valuable by art historians, this approach is informed by the current collective memory on which the town’s inhabitants base their relationship to historical heritage. We anticipate that focusing on the inhabitants’ current relationship and understanding of the city’s history and broadening the focus beyond the founding firm and its activities can support efforts to institutionalise local heritage conservationThe text focuses on the re/construction of identity and heritage conservation in the Slovak town of Partizánske. The town was founded as one of the industrial towns of the Baťa company at the turn of the 1930s and 1940s. Despite the efforts of experts, neither the town’s urban plan nor any significant part of it (except for the modernist church) is institutionally protected to this day. In this text, we offer an alternative approach to the re/construction of historical heritage and its institutional protection. In addition to qualities deemed valuable by art historians, this approach is informed by the current collective memory on which the town’s inhabitants base their relationship to historical heritage. We anticipate that focusing on the inhabitants’ current relationship and understanding of the city’s history and broadening the focus beyond the founding firm and its activities can support efforts to institutionalise local heritage conservation