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 to the public from December 16, 2025 to January 16, 2026.
Šahská sporiteľňa, Šahy
Šahská sporiteľňa, účastinná spoločnosť (Šahy Savings Bank, joint-stock company), was established in 1868 under the Hungarian name Ipolysági takarékpénztár, részvénytársaság, with share capital of 26,000 guldens. A notable early supporter of the bank was Alexander Winter, who would later develop the spa at Piešťany. In its original articles of association, the bank specified that its main business activities would be accepting interest-bearing deposits and providing loans.
This was an important milestone in the development of Šahy, which, despite being the principal town of Hont County, had hardly any resources, no paved roads or public lighting at that time. The town itself owned only one single-storey building and 32 hectares of arable land. Its annual income was just 1,600 guldens and it had expenses of 2,600 guldens. The commercial life of the town centred on the agricultural market and a few shops on the town square. It was hoped that the savings bank would spur the town’s development through loans to support the flourishing of trade and crafts.
After the approval of the articles of association by the Ministry of Trade, the first board of directors was elected comprising Mikuláš Horváth, chairman; Anton Hederváry, managing director; Gábor Báthory, legal representative; and members Ján Antal, Martin Berczeller, Karol Dombo, Ludvik Eichenwald, Adolf Elfer, Michal Engelhardt, Adolf Glück, Samuel Grünwald, Ignác Holczer, Gábor Hummer, Dr. Ludvik Jelsik, Salamon Kinszki, Juraj Lamy, Baron Ludvik Majthényi, Karol Martsán, Ján Paczolay, Juraj Podhorszky, Karol Pohl, Matej Toth, Daniel Frantwein, Michal Vaskovits, Ján Vlkolinszky and Alexander Winter. The first members of the supervisory board were Alojz Langa, Michal Pronay, Ľudovít Hirchsbein and A. Eyerman.
The bank began operating in two rooms on 1 December 1868. Its business activities continually expanded. In its very first business year, 1869, deposits reached 48,000 guldens and guaranteed loans amounted to 43,300 guldens. It reported a profit of 533 guldens.
In 1870, dividends of 4 guldens per share were paid and in 1871 the profit reached 16% of the share capital, dividends were raised to 5 guldens per share and the bank reached its full subscribed capital of 30,000 guldens (600 shares at 50 guldens each).
In 1877, it bought a building on the main square in Šahy at a public auction for 19,000 guldens; it relocated there and expanded its offices. By 1880 deposits had grown so much that the bank’s board of directors could place 20,000 guldens in another financial institution. The bank initially offered 6% interest on deposits but later cut this rate to 4%. The interest rate for loans was cut from 9% to 8% and later went as low as 7%.
In 1889 the general meeting increased the staff pension fund to 15,000 guldens. In 1891, the inflow of funds was so large that the bank could afford to place as much as 110,000 guldens in other financial institutions.
The bank celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1894. Anton Hederváry chose this occasion to leave the bank where he had worked for 25 years, as did Baron Ludvik Majthényi, who had chaired the board for 23 years. They were replaced by Štefan Berko as director and Alexander Lestyanský as chairman.
In 1895 the bank opened a branch in Krupina and four years later it relocated its headquarters to a new purpose-built office in Šahy. It raised its share capital to 720,000 Austro-Hungarian crowns (K) in 1911. It also decided to open a new branch in Vyškovce nad Ipľom. The same year, the bank had an overall turnover of K 56.6 million and a net profit of K 112,000. The board of directors consisted of Július List, chairman (retired chief county official), Štefan Berko, director (royal counsellor), Vincent Herczeg, deputy director, and 22 board members. The supervisory committee comprised Ján Bolgár, chairman, and members Ľudevít Berczler, Aladár Schreiber and Alexander Kátser.
The bank largely escaped the effects of the economic crisis of 1912–1913 because its clientele and business partners were mainly drawn from the agricultural sector and it was not dependent on foreign capital. In 1913 it had a net profit of K 127,000.
After the outbreak of the First World War, when other financial institutions limited withdrawals of deposits, the Šahy Savings Bank imposed no restrictions, relying on the favour of the Banská Bystrica branch of the Austro‑Hungarian Bank for credit.
In 1917, it became a member of the Pénzintézeti Központ (Financial Center) banking organisation, with a share of K 16,000. It expanded its territorial coverage by bringing into its financial sphere the Hont County branch of a major military supplies manufacturer, Vojnová výrobňa, akciová spoločnosť. In 1919 it had deposits of K 8.6 million (compared to K 3.9 million at the start of the war in 1914) and its stock of mortgage loans was K 1.4 million (compared to K 3 million in 1914). Its profits fell from K 126,000 in 1914 to K 38,000 in 1919.
Becoming part of Czechoslovakia was a severe challenge for the bank. It had capital of K 3 million deposited in the Budapest banks and K 2 million in war loans. In 1919 it was placed under the supervision of a government commissioner, Ján Roháček, who was the head of the tax office in Šahy.
In 1921 the Šahy Savings Bank adopted the Slovak name Šahská sporivá banka, účastinná spoločnosť, to comply with Act No 302/1920. It also used the names Ipolysági takarékbank r. t., in Hungarian and Ipolysager Sparbank A.G. in German. The bank continued to struggle with problems through 1922 and 1923. By 1924 it was on the brink of insolvency and held an extraordinary general meeting where it announced a composition settlement at a rate of 60% effective from 15 April 1924.
The Ministry of Finance restored the bank’s right to accept deposits by authorisation No 146.863/25-IIA/3 in 1925. In this year, the bank also made its first profit since 1919. It amounted to 28,000 Czechoslovak crowns (Kč), which enabled a dividend of Kč 18 per share to be paid.
In 1938, Šahy was annexed to Hungary by the Vienna Arbitration and thus the Šahy Savings Bank found itself under Hungarian jurisdiction. The same year, domestic receivables and loans were converted from Czechoslovak crowns to Hungarian pengő (P) at a ratio of 7:1 by order of the Hungarian National Bank. The conversion reduced the nominal value of the shares from Kč 600 to P 85.71. A resolution of the general meeting in 1939 set the nominal value of a share to P 100, giving the bank share capital of P 120,000.
At an extraordinary general meeting on 12 October 1939, the bank decided to return to its original name Šahy Savings Bank. After the end of the Second World War, the bank was nationalised under Decree No 102/1945 of the President of the Republic and renamed Šahská sporiteľňa, národný podnik v Šahách v likvidácii (Šahy Savings Bank, national enterprise in Šahy, in liquidation).
In 1947, the bank’s liquidator was Ján Grof, authorised signatory of the Šahy branch of Slovenská banka (Slovak Bank), but in a letter of 27 October 1947, the Executive Authority for Finance dismissed him and transferred the liquidation to Ústredná likvidačná kancelária (Central Liquidation Office) in Bratislava. In 1949, Slovenská Tatra banka (Slovak Tatra Bank), Bratislava, took over the liquidation based on Order No 7709/49-VI/18 of 30 June 1949. In 1950 the Šahy Savings Bank was merged with Slovenská všeobecná úverná banka, národný podnik v likvidácii (Slovak General Credit Bank, national enterprise in liquidation) in Bratislava by Decree No 265/50 (OJ I) of the Ministry of Finance of 13 April 1950.
The documentation in the fonds is incomplete. Before 1920, documents were written only in Hungarian. After 1920, Slovak was used alongside Hungarian but between 1939 and 1944, all documents are once again in Hungarian. In 1966, the fonds was processed in the corporate archives of Štátna banka československá (State Bank of Czechoslovakia) in Marianka and an inventory was drawn up, which was revised in the Archives of Národná banka Slovenska in 2015.
The documents were transferred from the corporate archives of Štátna banka československá in Marianka to 27 Krajná Street in Bratislava between 1975 and 1977. They were moved to their current home in the Národná banka Slovenska archives building at 8 Cukrová Street in Bratislava in 2003. The fonds consists of 3 linear metres of documents. An incomplete series of minutes books of the board of directors and annual reports has been preserved; most documents relate to the bank’s liquidation after the Second World War. There are also some fragments of documentation relating to the bank’s business activities.
Last updated: Monday, December 29, 2025