The NBS Archives are open to the public at the following times:
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
9 a.m. to 12 noon /
12:45 p.m. to 3 p.m.
In July, August and September the Archives are closed to the public.
The Archives will be closed on 18 and 25 February 2025.
Komárňanská prvá sporiteľňa, Komárno
The bank was established in 1845 as the Komárno Savings Bank (officially Komáromi takarékpénztár, részvénytársaság) with share capital of 30,000 guldens, which grew to 200,000 guldens in 1899. After changing over to the Austro-Hungarian crown (K) in 1900, the value of the share capital was K 400,000. In 1905 the share capital was increased to K 500,000 and in 1917 to K 1 million. The bank paid out relatively high dividends. From 1895 to 1909, it paid 80 K per share and from 1910 to 1917 the dividends ranged from K 60 to K 90. The chairman of the board of directors was Karol Galba, the vice-chairman Györgi Szabo, the managing director Koloman Barcza and the chief accountant Ján Nagy.
The break-up of Austria-Hungary and the establishment of the first Czechoslovak Republic created problems for the bank because it was unable to access its funds in Budapest. It had invested a significant amount in war loans, which it managed to have recognised as claims against the Czechoslovak Republic with help from the banking industry association Jednota peňažných ústavov na Slovensku a Podkarpatskej Rusi (Association of Financial Institutions in Slovakia and Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia) in Bratislava. Act No 302/1920, the Savings Bank Act, obliged the bank to change its name so it became Komárňanský prvý úverný ústav (First Komárno Credit Institution).
After the Vienna Arbitration of 1938, Hungary annexed Komárno and the bank renamed itself again as the First Komárno Savings Bank. In 1939 its assets and liabilities were revalued in Hungarian pengő at a ratio of 7:1, thus giving it share capital of 300,000 pengő.
After the end of the Second World War, the Executive Authority for Finance ordered the liquidation of the savings bank, appointing as liquidators Anton Válik, the manager of Tatra banka’s branch in Komárno, and Pavol Kuttner, the authorised representative of Sedliacka banka in Bratislava. The liquidators were recalled in 1947 and the liquidation was entrusted to Ústredná likvidačná kancelária (Central Liquidation Office). Oblastná likvidačná kancelária I. (First Local Liquidation Office) was established in Komárno in 1948. The bank’s last liquidator was Slovenská Tatra banka, Bratislava, appointed in 1949.
This process was cut short in 1950 when, based on Section 18 of Act No 181/1948, the Ministry of Finance ordered by Decree No 265/1950 the bank’s merger with Slovenská všeobecná úverná banka, Bratislava. The merger by universal succession without liquidation was deemed to be effective from 1 January 1949. Nitra District Court ordered the deletion of Komárňanská prvá sporiteľňa from the Companies Register with effect from the same date.
Archival documents on activities of Komárňanská prvá sporiteľňa were delivered to the company archive of Štátna banka československá in Marianka in 1956, where a part of the fonds was processed and a register was made. In 1978, the fonds was relocated to the corporate archive of Štátna banka československá at 27 Krajná Street in Bratislava. It was relocated again to the Národná banka Slovenska archives building at 8 Cukrová Street in Bratislava in 2003.
The savings bank’s documentation includes material in Hungarian and in Slovak. A part of the archival fonds was processed in 2016 and a register was made for this part. As one of the oldest banks in Slovakia with a relatively well-preserved archival fonds, it is a useful resource for research on the history of a medium-sized Hungarian financial institution in Slovakia in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Last updated: Wednesday, December 27, 2023