Confessions of a Bourgeois
The name Sándor Márai is associated with Košice for many lovers of literature in Hungarian. Unfortunately, many Slovaks do not know about him. And that is a pity. Aside from the fact that Márai has been called the “Hungarian Kafka” by literary critics, that many women claim that no one understands the female soul like he does, and that his novel Candles Burn to the Ground found its way onto London theatre boards starring Jeremy Irons, there is one book that every Kosovar should read. Confessions of a Bourgeois is not just a biography of the author. It is a wonderful chronicle of early 20th century Kosice, when the bourgeoisie was at its peak and most of Main Street was built. When you pick up Confessions of a Bourgeois, you'll find that you're not living in Košice in 2019, but in Kassa or Kaschau in 1909. You'll find out in which of the courtyards the Gypsy family lived, where the Jews had their candy store, and also how the banks tried to help people with loans. And a word of warning - after reading this, you'll want to put on a tuxedo or a dress and go out for coffee somewhere to stay in this bourgeois period as long as possible.
Secrets of the Golden Treasure
“Richtar Vida has his hands full.” This sentence begins the content of the novel by the Kosovar author Tina van der Holland. And when you decide to read The Secret of the Golden Treasure, you will have your hands full with this book. The golden treasure of Košice has been shrouded in mystery ever since it was found. Who collected 2,920 gold coins from 81 mints in 11 European countries and then hid them in the ground? Why did he just leave them there? Did he want to hide them? Why didn't he come back for them? Was he murdered? Did he not tell his descendants that the treasure existed? The author answers all these questions through the story of a medieval detective story, where there are mysterious murders, a meeting with a feared executioner and a visit to places that even today proudly wear the medieval face of Košice - Levoča House, Mikluš Prison or the Historical Town Hall. If you like Dan Brown's books, The Secret of the Golden Treasure is the one for you - it's a thriller set in streets you know intimately.
Košice Stagecoach
Everyone likes to go to a nice restaurant with a historical touch. But what did sardine cutlery look like in the 1920s? What was Prohibition like in Košice? What was the Anti-Tax Commission and what were the rules when beer was on tap? These are admittedly quaint questions, but they're what make
Košice Stag Parties so charming. A graphically beautifully crafted book that is a cross-section of Košice gastronomy from the interwar period to 1948, it documents stagecoaches that have long since fallen to ashes (both figuratively and in reality) and those that have withstood the hard times and are still here today.
And what are these stagecoaches? You'll have to read the book to find out.
Košice Reader
The book is as heavy as an encyclopedia, but you won't find any pictures in it. Instead, you can marvel at the number of works and languages in which Košice has been mentioned around the world. John Smith (the one who married Pocahontas in the Disney fairy tale), Francis II. Rákoczi didn't forget them in his
biography. Dozens of authors whose names we learned at school dedicated poems, plays, short stories and even novels to Košice - Jonáš Záborský, Ján Štrasser, Jozef Gregor Tajovský, Hana Zelinová, Rudolf Schuster and Sándor Márai. Through their works, Košice grows up and becomes the city you know now. But if you want to look at them from more than 90 points of view, reach for the Košice Reader. You won't be bored.
Košice legends and legends
"The Slovak folk of Košice still say that the Church of St. Elizabeth takes on a golden colour at Easter after sunset. This is a remembrance of the great fire in Košice in 1556," says the legend of the bell-ringer Urban, which dates back to 1927. But he is not the only hero who will win your heart. Eighteen short stories tell the story of the Three Brothers who built Košice Castle, of the healer Zbyša, who long ago knew the wisdom “a wand of wine is a poison, a glass of wine a cure”, of the executioner's son whose heart was broken by a white goose, and of the senator who murdered his seventh wife, and of the brigands whose dark souls entered the willows near Mala Ida.
Košice z neba - 19,90 €
A bonus book in our list is Košice z neba. Impressive historical monuments that are surpassing each other in beauty will take you back centuries. Nevertheless, the metropolis of the East is still alive and constantly changing its face. What is interesting about Košice is not only the beautiful centre, because of which crowds of visitors flock to the city, but also the outskirts of Košice. The dominant Furča, the orderly KVP, and Krásná is even more beautiful from above. You may not believe it, but Lunik IX. is also a picturesque place from the sky. You can find Košice from the sky in our shop or on our e-shop.
