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134-661: The fate of Banská Štiavnica has been closely linked to the exploitation of its abundant resources of silver ore. According to evidence from excavations, the site was settled during the Neolithic period. The first mining settlement was founded by Celts in the 3rd century BC. It was probably occupied by the Celtic Cotini tribe. Roman authors mentioned mining activities of the Cotini, who had lived in present-day central Slovakia until they were deported to Pannonia within

268-486: A bullet cast from silver is often supposed in such folklore the only weapon that is effective against a werewolf , witch , or other monsters . From this the idiom of a silver bullet developed into figuratively referring to any simple solution with very high effectiveness or almost miraculous results, as in the widely discussed software engineering paper " No Silver Bullet ." Other powers attributed to silver include detection of poison and facilitation of passage into

402-419: A color name . Protected silver has greater optical reflectivity than aluminium at all wavelengths longer than ~450 nm. At wavelengths shorter than 450 nm, silver's reflectivity is inferior to that of aluminium and drops to zero near 310 nm. Very high electrical and thermal conductivity are common to the elements in group 11, because their single s electron is free and does not interact with

536-522: A mint , producing gold and silver coins known as biatecs . The area fell under Roman influence from the 1st to the 4th century A.D. and was made part of the Danubian Limes , a border defence system. The Romans introduced grape growing to the area and began a tradition of winemaking , which survives to the present. The Slavs arrived from the East between the 5th and 6th centuries during

670-470: A precious metal . Silver metal is used in many bullion coins , sometimes alongside gold : while it is more abundant than gold, it is much less abundant as a native metal . Its purity is typically measured on a per-mille basis; a 94%-pure alloy is described as "0.940 fine". As one of the seven metals of antiquity , silver has had an enduring role in most human cultures. Other than in currency and as an investment medium ( coins and bullion ), silver

804-653: A fifth campaign against the Kingdom of Hungary , and besieged Pressburg without success, as the Hungarians sank his supply ships on the Danube river. This strategic position destined the city to be the site of frequent attacks and battles, but also brought it economic development and high political status. It was granted its first known "town privileges" in 1291 by the Hungarian King Andrew III , and

938-592: A non-Indo-European Wanderwort . Some scholars have thus proposed a Paleo-Hispanic origin, pointing to the Basque form zilharr as an evidence. The chemical symbol Ag is from the Latin word for silver , argentum (compare Ancient Greek ἄργυρος , árgyros ), from the Proto-Indo-European root * h₂erǵ- (formerly reconstructed as *arǵ- ), meaning ' white ' or ' shining ' . This

1072-614: A reward for betrayal, references the bribe Judas Iscariot is said in the New Testament to have taken from Jewish leaders in Jerusalem to turn Jesus of Nazareth over to soldiers of the high priest Caiaphas. Ethically, silver also symbolizes greed and degradation of consciousness; this is the negative aspect, the perverting of its value. The abundance of silver in the Earth's crust is 0.08  parts per million , almost exactly

1206-629: A scale unparalleled before the discovery of the New World . Reaching a peak production of 200 tonnes per year, an estimated silver stock of 10,000 tonnes circulated in the Roman economy in the middle of the second century AD, five to ten times larger than the combined amount of silver available to medieval Europe and the Abbasid Caliphate around AD 800. The Romans also recorded the extraction of silver in central and northern Europe in

1340-407: A single electron in the highest occupied s subshell over a filled d subshell, accounts for many of the singular properties of metallic silver. Silver is a relatively soft and extremely ductile and malleable transition metal , though it is slightly less malleable than gold. Silver crystallizes in a face-centered cubic lattice with bulk coordination number 12, where only the single 5s electron

1474-749: A widespread expulsion of ethnic Germans from eastern Europe. After World War II, Slovak Republic lost its so-called independence and was reunified again with the Czech Republic as Czechoslovak Republic , Petržalka (currently part of Bratislava's 5th district ) and Devín (currently part of Bratislava's 4th district ) was returned to Czechoslovakia. Furthermore, after signing the Peace Treaty of Paris on 10 February 1947, three Hungarian villages, namely Horvátjárfalu (Jarovce), Oroszvár (Rusovce), and Dunacsún (Čunovo) situated south of Bratislava were transferred to Czechoslovakia, in order to form

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1608-567: Is cognate with Old High German silabar ; Gothic silubr ; or Old Norse silfr , all ultimately deriving from Proto-Germanic *silubra . The Balto-Slavic words for silver are rather similar to the Germanic ones (e.g. Russian серебро [ serebró ], Polish srebro , Lithuanian sidãbras ), as is the Celtiberian form silabur . They may have a common Indo-European origin, although their morphology rather suggest

1742-465: Is the difluoride , AgF 2 , which can be obtained from the elements under heat. A strong yet thermally stable and therefore safe fluorinating agent, silver(II) fluoride is often used to synthesize hydrofluorocarbons . In stark contrast to this, all four silver(I) halides are known. The fluoride , chloride , and bromide have the sodium chloride structure, but the iodide has three known stable forms at different temperatures; that at room temperature

1876-470: Is Ag 3 O which behaves as a metallic conductor. Silver(I) sulfide , Ag 2 S, is very readily formed from its constituent elements and is the cause of the black tarnish on some old silver objects. It may also be formed from the reaction of hydrogen sulfide with silver metal or aqueous Ag ions. Many non-stoichiometric selenides and tellurides are known; in particular, AgTe ~3 is a low-temperature superconductor . The only known dihalide of silver

2010-550: Is a complex of churches and chapels near Ostry vrch which was built in the eighteenth century by the Jesuits . dBanská Štiavnica has a population of 10,674 (as of December 31, 2005). According to the 2001 census , 93.9% of inhabitants were Slovaks and 2% Romani people . Many people are descendants of the Carpathian Germans , who played a very important role in the medieval history of the town. The religious makeup

2144-438: Is because its filled 4d shell is not very effective in shielding the electrostatic forces of attraction from the nucleus to the outermost 5s electron, and hence silver is near the bottom of the electrochemical series ( E (Ag /Ag) = +0.799 V). In group 11, silver has the lowest first ionization energy (showing the instability of the 5s orbital), but has higher second and third ionization energies than copper and gold (showing

2278-482: Is classified as temperate oceanic climate under Trewartha climate classification (DOak), It is in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7b with a mean annual temperature of around 11.1 °C (52.0 °F), an average temperature of 22.0 °C (71.6 °F) in the warmest month and 0.3 °C (32.5 °F) in the coldest month, four distinct seasons and precipitation spread rather evenly throughout

2412-425: Is delocalized, similarly to copper and gold. Unlike metals with incomplete d-shells, metallic bonds in silver are lacking a covalent character and are relatively weak. This observation explains the low hardness and high ductility of single crystals of silver. Silver has a brilliant, white, metallic luster that can take a high polish , and which is so characteristic that the name of the metal itself has become

2546-549: Is higher than that of lead (1.87), and its electron affinity of 125.6 kJ/mol is much higher than that of hydrogen (72.8 kJ/mol) and not much less than that of oxygen (141.0 kJ/mol). Due to its full d-subshell, silver in its main +1 oxidation state exhibits relatively few properties of the transition metals proper from groups 4 to 10, forming rather unstable organometallic compounds , forming linear complexes showing very low coordination numbers like 2, and forming an amphoteric oxide as well as Zintl phases like

2680-435: Is in one of the warmest and driest parts of Slovakia. Recently, the transitions from winter to summer and summer to winter have been rapid, with short autumn and spring periods. Snow occurs less frequently than previously. Extreme temperatures (1981–2013) – record high: 39.4 °C (102.9 °F), record low: −24.6 °C (−12.3 °F). Some areas, particularly Devín and Devínska Nová Ves , are vulnerable to floods from

2814-538: Is known to have some of the largest silver deposits in the world. Bratislava Bratislava , historically known as Pozsony and Pressburg , is the capital and largest city of the Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all cities on the River Danube . Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, some sources estimate it to be more than 660,000—approximately 140% of

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2948-413: Is much less stable, fuming in moist air and reacting with glass. Silver(II) complexes are more common. Like the valence isoelectronic copper(II) complexes, they are usually square planar and paramagnetic, which is increased by the greater field splitting for 4d electrons than for 3d electrons. Aqueous Ag , produced by oxidation of Ag by ozone, is a very strong oxidising agent, even in acidic solutions: it

3082-410: Is not reversible because the silver atom liberated is typically found at a crystal defect or an impurity site, so that the electron's energy is lowered enough that it is "trapped". White silver nitrate , AgNO 3 , is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, especially the halides, and is much less sensitive to light. It was once called lunar caustic because silver was called luna by

3216-424: Is pale yellow, becoming purplish on exposure to light; it projects slightly from the surface of the artifact or coin. The precipitation of copper in ancient silver can be used to date artifacts, as copper is nearly always a constituent of silver alloys. Silver metal is attacked by strong oxidizers such as potassium permanganate ( KMnO 4 ) and potassium dichromate ( K 2 Cr 2 O 7 ), and in

3350-415: Is rare in the periodic table. The atomic weight is 107.8682(2) u ; this value is very important because of the importance of silver compounds, particularly halides, in gravimetric analysis . Both isotopes of silver are produced in stars via the s-process (slow neutron capture), as well as in supernovas via the r-process (rapid neutron capture). Twenty-eight radioisotopes have been characterized,

3484-536: Is reflected in the relative decomposition temperatures of AgMe (−50 °C) and CuMe (−15 °C) as well as those of PhAg (74 °C) and PhCu (100 °C). The C–Ag bond is stabilized by perfluoroalkyl ligands, for example in AgCF(CF 3 ) 2 . Alkenylsilver compounds are also more stable than their alkylsilver counterparts. Silver- NHC complexes are easily prepared, and are commonly used to prepare other NHC complexes by displacing labile ligands. For example,

3618-430: Is similar in its physical and chemical properties to its two vertical neighbours in group 11 of the periodic table : copper , and gold . Its 47 electrons are arranged in the configuration [Kr]4d 5s , similarly to copper ([Ar]3d 4s ) and gold ([Xe]4f 5d 6s ); group 11 is one of the few groups in the d-block which has a completely consistent set of electron configurations. This distinctive electron configuration, with

3752-445: Is sometimes attributed to Bratislava, but the actual location of Brezalauspurc is under scholarly debate . The city's modern name is credited to Pavol Jozef Šafárik 's misinterpretation of Braslav as Bratislav in his analysis of medieval sources, which led him to invent the term Břetislaw , which later became Bratislav . During the revolution of 1918–1919, the name 'Wilsonov' or 'Wilsonstadt' (after US President Woodrow Wilson )

3886-472: Is stabilized in phosphoric acid due to complex formation. Peroxodisulfate oxidation is generally necessary to give the more stable complexes with heterocyclic amines , such as [Ag(py) 4 ] and [Ag(bipy) 2 ] : these are stable provided the counterion cannot reduce the silver back to the +1 oxidation state. [AgF 4 ] is also known in its violet barium salt, as are some silver(II) complexes with N - or O -donor ligands such as pyridine carboxylates. By far

4020-403: Is surrounded by ancient artificial mining water reservoirs called tajchy . Sixty reservoirs were built in the 15th through 18th centuries in order to provide energy for the booming mining industry. They are connected by a more than 100-kilometre (62 mi) long network of channels. These extraordinary historical monuments are now used mainly for recreation. In Kalvária Banská Štiavnica there

4154-625: Is the political , cultural and economic centre of Slovakia. It is the seat of the Slovak president , the parliament and the Slovak Executive . It has several universities, and many museums, theatres, galleries and other cultural and educational institutions. Many of Slovakia's large businesses and financial institutions have headquarters there. Bratislava is 57th largest city in the European Union and 19th-richest region of

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4288-413: Is the cubic zinc blende structure. They can all be obtained by the direct reaction of their respective elements. As the halogen group is descended, the silver halide gains more and more covalent character, solubility decreases, and the colour changes from the white chloride to the yellow iodide as the energy required for ligand-metal charge transfer (X Ag → XAg) decreases. The fluoride is anomalous, as

4422-452: Is the historical Trinity Square ( Slovak : Trojičné námestie ) dominated by a monumental plague column . The square is used for frequent cultural events and there is also a mineralogical museum. Two castles, the so-called “old” one (Slovak: Starý zámok ) and “new” one (Slovak: Nový zámok ), have been transformed into museums. The open air mining museum offers a 1.5-kilometre (0.93 mi) long underground excursion in mines dating from

4556-614: Is used in solar panels , water filtration , jewellery , ornaments, high-value tableware and utensils (hence the term " silverware "), in electrical contacts and conductors , in specialized mirrors, window coatings, in catalysis of chemical reactions, as a colorant in stained glass , and in specialized confectionery. Its compounds are used in photographic and X-ray film. Dilute solutions of silver nitrate and other silver compounds are used as disinfectants and microbiocides ( oligodynamic effect ), added to bandages , wound-dressings, catheters , and other medical instruments . Silver

4690-726: Is used in vacuum brazing . The two metals are completely miscible as liquids but not as solids; their importance in industry comes from the fact that their properties tend to be suitable over a wide range of variation in silver and copper concentration, although most useful alloys tend to be richer in silver than the eutectic mixture (71.9% silver and 28.1% copper by weight, and 60.1% silver and 28.1% copper by atom). Most other binary alloys are of little use: for example, silver–gold alloys are too soft and silver– cadmium alloys too toxic. Ternary alloys have much greater importance: dental amalgams are usually silver–tin–mercury alloys, silver–copper–gold alloys are very important in jewellery (usually on

4824-482: Is usually obtained by reacting silver or silver monofluoride with the strongest known oxidizing agent, krypton difluoride . Silver and gold have rather low chemical affinities for oxygen, lower than copper, and it is therefore expected that silver oxides are thermally quite unstable. Soluble silver(I) salts precipitate dark-brown silver(I) oxide , Ag 2 O, upon the addition of alkali. (The hydroxide AgOH exists only in solution; otherwise it spontaneously decomposes to

4958-547: The Habsburg monarchy and marking the beginning of a new era. The city became a coronation town and the seat of kings, archbishops (1543), the nobility and all major organisations and offices. Between 1536 and 1830, eleven Hungarian kings and queens were crowned at St. Martin's Cathedral . The 17th century was marked by anti-Habsburg uprisings, fighting with the Ottomans, floods, plagues and other disasters, which diminished

5092-640: The Hungarian Reform Era (such as the abolition of serfdom and the foundation of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences ) was enacted there. The historic centre is characterized by many baroque palaces. The Grassalkovich Palace , built around 1760, is now the residence of the Slovak president, and the Slovak government now has its seat in the former Archiepiscopal Palace . In 1805, diplomats of emperors Napoleon and Francis II signed

5226-609: The Keglevich Palace . The city started to lose its importance under the reign of Maria Theresa's son Joseph II , especially after the crown jewels were taken to Vienna in 1783 in an attempt to strengthen the relations between Austria and Hungary. Many central offices subsequently moved to Buda , followed by a large segment of the nobility. The first newspapers in Hungarian and Slovak were published here: Magyar hírmondó in 1780, and Presspurske Nowiny in 1783. In

5360-848: The Koenigs–Knorr reaction . In the Fétizon oxidation , silver carbonate on celite acts as an oxidising agent to form lactones from diols . It is also employed to convert alkyl bromides into alcohols . Silver fulminate , AgCNO, a powerful, touch-sensitive explosive used in percussion caps , is made by reaction of silver metal with nitric acid in the presence of ethanol . Other dangerously explosive silver compounds are silver azide , AgN 3 , formed by reaction of silver nitrate with sodium azide , and silver acetylide , Ag 2 C 2 , formed when silver reacts with acetylene gas in ammonia solution. In its most characteristic reaction, silver azide decomposes explosively, releasing nitrogen gas: given

5494-545: The Lahn region, Siegerland , Silesia , Hungary , Norway , Steiermark , Schwaz , and the southern Black Forest . Most of these ores were quite rich in silver and could simply be separated by hand from the remaining rock and then smelted; some deposits of native silver were also encountered. Many of these mines were soon exhausted, but a few of them remained active until the Industrial Revolution , before which

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5628-611: The Little Carpathians ( Malé Karpaty ). The Záhorie and Danubian lowlands stretch into Bratislava. The city's lowest point is at the Danube's surface at 126 metres (413 ft) above mean sea level , and the highest point is Devínska Kobyla at 514 metres (1,686 ft). The average altitude is 140 metres (460 ft). Bratislava has recently shifted into the humid subtropical climate under Köppen–Geiger climate classification ( Cfa ), closely bordering on Dfb , and

5762-483: The Marcomannic Wars by Rome. The site was also settled by early Hungarians and an old Hungarian fortified settlement was situated here in the 10th and 11th century. The site was called “terra banensium” (the land of miners) as early as 1156. The local Slavic population gave the name „Štiavnica“ (acidic stream) to the settlement in the valley, and the settlement on the hill above (Ligotavá hora, or Glanzenberg –

5896-600: The Migration Period . As a response to onslaughts by Avars , the local Slavic tribes rebelled and established Samo 's Empire (623–658), the first known Slavic political entity. In the 9th century, the castles at Bratislava (Brezalauspurk) and Devín (Dowina) were important centres of the Slavic states: the Principality of Nitra and Great Moravia . Scholars have debated the identification as fortresses of

6030-621: The Petržalka or Dúbravka borough, were built. The Communist government also built several new grandiose buildings, such as the Slovak Radio Building , Slavín or Kamzík TV Tower . A quarter of Bratislava’s Old Town was demolished in the late 1960s for a single project: the bridge of the Slovak National Uprising . To make space for this development, much of the city’s centuries-old, historical Jewish quarter

6164-626: The Soviet Red Army 2nd Ukrainian Front during the Bratislava–Brno offensive . The Czechoslovak government and president Edvard Beneš then moved to Bratislava on 8 May. At the end of World War II, most of Bratislava's ethnic Germans were evacuated by the German authorities. A few returned after the war, but were soon expelled without their properties under the Beneš decrees , part of

6298-580: The holocaust . A curiosity is the underground (formerly ground-level) restored portion of the Jewish cemetery where 19th-century Rabbi Moses Sofer is buried, located at the base of the castle hill near the entrance to a tram tunnel. The only military cemetery in Bratislava is Slavín , unveiled in 1960 in honour of Soviet Army soldiers who fell during the liberation of Bratislava in April 1945. It offers

6432-666: The mythical realm of fairies . Silver production has also inspired figurative language. Clear references to cupellation occur throughout the Old Testament of the Bible , such as in Jeremiah 's rebuke to Judah: "The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them." (Jeremiah 6:19–20) Jeremiah

6566-635: The only national capital that borders two countries . It is only 18 kilometres (11.2 mi) from the border with Hungary and only 60 kilometres (37.3 mi) from the Austrian capital Vienna . The city has a total area of 367.58 square kilometres (141.9 sq mi), making it the second-largest city in Slovakia by area (after the township of Vysoké Tatry ). Bratislava straddles the Danube River, along which it had developed and for centuries

6700-435: The platinum complexes (though they are formed more readily than those of the analogous gold complexes): they are also quite unsymmetrical, showing the weak π bonding in group 11. Ag–C σ bonds may also be formed by silver(I), like copper(I) and gold(I), but the simple alkyls and aryls of silver(I) are even less stable than those of copper(I) (which tend to explode under ambient conditions). For example, poor thermal stability

6834-526: The post-transition metals . Unlike the preceding transition metals, the +1 oxidation state of silver is stable even in the absence of π-acceptor ligands . Silver does not react with air, even at red heat, and thus was considered by alchemists as a noble metal , along with gold. Its reactivity is intermediate between that of copper (which forms copper(I) oxide when heated in air to red heat) and gold. Like copper, silver reacts with sulfur and its compounds; in their presence, silver tarnishes in air to form

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6968-649: The 14th–15th centuries and now hosts the Bratislava City Museum . Michael's Gate is the only gate that has been preserved from the medieval fortifications , and it ranks among the oldest of the town's buildings; the narrowest house in Europe is nearby. The University Library building, erected in 1756, was used by the Diet of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1802 to 1848. Much of the significant legislation of

7102-438: The 17th century. Visitors will receive helmets, cloaks and lamps to use during the tour. It is also possible to have an English, German or Hungarian speaking guide if this is requested in advance. Another ancient mine open to the public (Slovak: Glanzenberg ) is even older. This mine, situated just under the center of the town, has attracted numerous famous visitors, from Emperor Joseph II to Prince Albert of Monaco . The town

7236-678: The 19th century, primary production of silver moved to North America, particularly Canada , Mexico , and Nevada in the United States : some secondary production from lead and zinc ores also took place in Europe, and deposits in Siberia and the Russian Far East as well as in Australia were mined. Poland emerged as an important producer during the 1970s after the discovery of copper deposits that were rich in silver, before

7370-745: The Czech invasion. The Slovak National Assembly meanwhile called it a "defensive action of the Slovaks themselves, to end the anarchy caused by the flight of the Hungarians." The Allies of World War I drew a provisional demarcation line, this was revealed to the Hungarian government on December 23, in the document known as the Vix Note . The Czechoslovak Legion arrived from Italy, began to advance on 30 December and by 2 January 1919, all important civil and military buildings were in Czechoslovak hands. It

7504-465: The Danube and Morava rivers. New flood protection has been built on both banks. The cityscape of Bratislava is characterized by medieval towers and grandiose 20th-century buildings, but it underwent profound changes in a construction boom at the start of the 21st century. Most historical buildings are concentrated in the Old Town . Bratislava's Town Hall is a complex of three buildings erected in

7638-559: The European Union by GDP ( PPP ) per capita. GDP at purchasing power parity is about three times higher than in other Slovak regions. Bratislava receives around one million tourists every year, mostly from the Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria. The city received its contemporary name on 16 March 1919. Until then, it was Pozsony, mostly known in English as "Pressburg" (from its German name, Preßburg ), since after 1526, it

7772-576: The Greek and Roman civilizations, silver coins were a staple of the economy: the Greeks were already extracting silver from galena by the 7th century BC, and the rise of Athens was partly made possible by the nearby silver mines at Laurium , from which they extracted about 30 tonnes a year from 600 to 300 BC. The stability of the Roman currency relied to a high degree on the supply of silver bullion, mostly from Spain, which Roman miners produced on

7906-624: The High and Late Middle Ages , the town was the main producer of silver and gold in the Kingdom of Hungary . During the Ottoman Wars , the Turks made concerted efforts to conquer rich mining towns in Upper Hungary (Banská Štiavnica, Banská Bystrica , and Kremnica ). This new threat led Banská Štiavnica to build powerful fortifications, including two castles, in the 16th century. As one of

8040-588: The Hungarian population of Bratislava had decreased to 15.8% (see the Demographics of Bratislava article for more details). In 1938, Nazi Germany annexed neighbouring Austria in the Anschluss ; on 10 October 1938 on the basis of the Munich Agreement it also annexed (still-separate from Bratislava) Petržalka and Devín boroughs on ethnic grounds, as these had many ethnic Germans. Petržalka

8174-569: The Kingdom of Hungary between 1563 and 1830. The Franciscan Church , dating to the 13th century, has been a place of knighting ceremonies and is the oldest preserved sacral building in the city. The Church of St. Elizabeth , better known as the Blue Church due to its colour, is built entirely in the Hungarian Secessionist style. Bratislava has one surviving functioning synagogue , out of the three major ones existing before

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8308-643: The Latin forms Bratislavia, Wratislavia etc., which refer to Wrocław (Breslau), Poland, not Bratislava. The Polish city has a similar etymology despite spelling differences. The first known permanent settlement of the area began with the Linear Pottery Culture , around 5000 B.C. in the Neolithic era. About 200 B.C., the Celtic Boii tribe founded the first significant settlement, a fortified town known as an oppidum . They also established

8442-449: The US, 13540 tons of silver were used for the electromagnets in calutrons for enriching uranium , mainly because of the wartime shortage of copper. Silver readily forms alloys with copper, gold, and zinc . Zinc-silver alloys with low zinc concentration may be considered as face-centred cubic solid solutions of zinc in silver, as the structure of the silver is largely unchanged while

8576-557: The ancient alchemists, who believed that silver was associated with the Moon. It is often used for gravimetric analysis, exploiting the insolubility of the heavier silver halides which it is a common precursor to. Silver nitrate is used in many ways in organic synthesis , e.g. for deprotection and oxidations. Ag binds alkenes reversibly, and silver nitrate has been used to separate mixtures of alkenes by selective absorption. The resulting adduct can be decomposed with ammonia to release

8710-472: The area to Czechoslovakia with the aim of creating a bridgehead for the newly created Czechoslovak state for controlling the Danube. Left without any protection after the retreat of the Hungarian army, many Hungarians were expelled or fled. Czechs and Slovaks moved their households to Bratislava. Education in Hungarian and German was radically reduced in the city. By the 1930 Czechoslovak census ,

8844-434: The attacks of the Hungarians. The exact location of the battle remains unknown, and some interpretations place it west of Lake Balaton . In the 10th century, the territory of Pressburg (what would later become Pozsony county ) became part of Hungary (called the " Kingdom of Hungary " from 1000). It developed as a key economic and administrative centre on the kingdom's frontier. In 1052, German Emperor Henry III undertook

8978-637: The black silver sulfide (copper forms the green sulfate instead, while gold does not react). While silver is not attacked by non-oxidizing acids, the metal dissolves readily in hot concentrated sulfuric acid , as well as dilute or concentrated nitric acid . In the presence of air, and especially in the presence of hydrogen peroxide , silver dissolves readily in aqueous solutions of cyanide . The three main forms of deterioration in historical silver artifacts are tarnishing, formation of silver chloride due to long-term immersion in salt water, as well as reaction with nitrate ions or oxygen. Fresh silver chloride

9112-531: The borders for the strategic reasons, mainly to secure the port and to prevent a potential attack of the Hungarian Army on the town. On the night of 14 August 1919 barefoot Czechoslovak soldiers silently climbed to the Hungarian side of the Starý most (Old Bridge), captured the guards and annexed Petržalka (currently part of Bratislava's 5th district ) without a fight. The Paris Peace Conference assigned

9246-712: The centre of production returned to the Americas the following decade. Today, Peru and Mexico are still among the primary silver producers, but the distribution of silver production around the world is quite balanced and about one-fifth of the silver supply comes from recycling instead of new production. Silver plays a certain role in mythology and has found various usage as a metaphor and in folklore. The Greek poet Hesiod 's Works and Days (lines 109–201) lists different ages of man named after metals like gold, silver, bronze and iron to account for successive ages of humanity. Ovid 's Metamorphoses contains another retelling of

9380-462: The chief transportation route to other areas. The river passes through the city from the west to the southeast. The Middle Danube basin begins at Devín Gate in western Bratislava. Other rivers are the Morava River , which forms the northwestern border of the city and enters the Danube at Devín, the Little Danube , and the Vydrica , which enters the Danube in the borough of Karlova Ves . The Carpathian mountain range begins in city territory with

9514-399: The city's ethnic composition at 36% German, 33% Slovak and 29% Hungarian but this may have reflected changing self-identification, rather than an exchange of peoples. Many people were bi- or trilingual and multicultural. After World War I , the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire began. U.S. president Woodrow Wilson and the United States played a major role in the establishment of

9648-608: The course of the 18th century, the city became a centre for the Slovak national movement . The city's 19th-century history was closely tied to the major events in Europe. The Peace of Pressburg between the Austrian Empire and French Empire was signed here in 1805. Devín Castle was ruined by Napoleon 's French troops during an invasion of 1809. In 1825 the Hungarian National Learned Society (the present Hungarian Academy of Sciences)

9782-739: The creation of Czechoslovakia , the Academy was moved to Sopron in Hungary . The student traditions of the Academy ( School traditions of Selmec ) are still living in its successors, the University of Miskolc and Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava , and colleges in Sopron, Székesfehérvár , and Dunaújváros . In 1782, Banská Štiavnica was the third biggest town in the Kingdom of Hungary (with 23,192 or incl. suburbs 40,000 inhabitants), after Pozsony (today Bratislava ) and Debrecen . But

9916-434: The dominant producers of silver until around the beginning of the 18th century, particularly Peru , Bolivia , Chile , and Argentina : the last of these countries later took its name from that of the metal that composed so much of its mineral wealth. The silver trade gave way to a global network of exchange . As one historian put it, silver "went round the world and made the world go round." Much of this silver ended up in

10050-408: The electron concentration rises as more zinc is added. Increasing the electron concentration further leads to body-centred cubic (electron concentration 1.5), complex cubic (1.615), and hexagonal close-packed phases (1.75). Naturally occurring silver is composed of two stable isotopes , Ag and Ag, with Ag being slightly more abundant (51.839% natural abundance ). This almost equal abundance

10184-411: The elements in groups 10–14 (except boron and carbon ) have very complex Ag–M phase diagrams and form the most commercially important alloys; and the remaining elements on the periodic table have no consistency in their Ag–M phase diagrams. By far the most important such alloys are those with copper: most silver used for coinage and jewellery is in reality a silver–copper alloy, and the eutectic mixture

10318-580: The end of the war in the Holocaust . Bratislava, occupied by German troops, was many times bombarded by the Allies . Major air raid included the bombing of Bratislava and its refinery Apollo on June 16, 1944 by American B-24 bombers of the Fifteenth Air Force with 181 victims Bombardment group attacked in four waves with overall 158 planes. On 4 April 1945, Bratislava was liberated by

10452-529: The exceptions are the nitrate, perchlorate, and fluoride. The tetracoordinate tetrahedral aqueous ion [Ag(H 2 O) 4 ] is known, but the characteristic geometry for the Ag cation is 2-coordinate linear. For example, silver chloride dissolves readily in excess aqueous ammonia to form [Ag(NH 3 ) 2 ] ; silver salts are dissolved in photography due to the formation of the thiosulfate complex [Ag(S 2 O 3 ) 2 ] ; and cyanide extraction for silver (and gold) works by

10586-422: The filled d subshell, as such interactions (which occur in the preceding transition metals) lower electron mobility. The thermal conductivity of silver is among the highest of all materials, although the thermal conductivity of carbon (in the diamond allotrope ) and superfluid helium-4 are higher. The electrical conductivity of silver is the highest of all metals, greater even than copper. Silver also has

10720-414: The first bank in present-day Slovakia was founded in 1842. The city's first permanent bridge over the Danube, Starý most (Old Bridge), was built in 1891. Between the years 1867-1918, the territory of Pressburg became part of Austro-Hungarian Empire . Before World War I , the city had a population that was 42% German, 41% Hungarian and 15% Slovak (1910 census). The first post war census in 1919 declared

10854-409: The flooded mines, a sophisticated system of water reservoirs and channels, known as tajchy , was designed and built by the local scientists Jozef Karol Hell , Maximilian Hell , and Samuel Mikovíny in the 18th century. Tajchy not only saved the mines from being closed, but also provided energy for the early phase of industrialization. Its Mining Academy , founded there in 1735 by Samuel Mikovíny ,

10988-534: The fluoride ion is so small that it has a considerable solvation energy and hence is highly water-soluble and forms di- and tetrahydrates. The other three silver halides are highly insoluble in aqueous solutions and are very commonly used in gravimetric analytical methods. All four are photosensitive (though the monofluoride is so only to ultraviolet light), especially the bromide and iodide which photodecompose to silver metal, and thus were used in traditional photography . The reaction involved is: The process

11122-523: The formation of the complex [Ag(CN) 2 ] . Silver cyanide forms the linear polymer {Ag–C≡N→Ag–C≡N→}; silver thiocyanate has a similar structure, but forms a zigzag instead because of the sp - hybridized sulfur atom. Chelating ligands are unable to form linear complexes and thus silver(I) complexes with them tend to form polymers; a few exceptions exist, such as the near-tetrahedral diphosphine and diarsine complexes [Ag(L–L) 2 ] . Under standard conditions, silver does not form simple carbonyls, due to

11256-622: The fourth Peace of Pressburg in the Primate's Palace , after Napoleon's victory in the Battle of Austerlitz . Some smaller houses are historically significant; composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel was born in an 18th-century house in the Old Town. Notable cathedrals and churches include the Gothic St. Martin's Cathedral built in the 13th–16th centuries, which served as the coronation church of

11390-412: The free alkene. Yellow silver carbonate , Ag 2 CO 3 can be easily prepared by reacting aqueous solutions of sodium carbonate with a deficiency of silver nitrate. Its principal use is for the production of silver powder for use in microelectronics. It is reduced with formaldehyde , producing silver free of alkali metals: Silver carbonate is also used as a reagent in organic synthesis such as

11524-573: The gold-rich side) and have a vast range of hardnesses and colours, silver–copper–zinc alloys are useful as low-melting brazing alloys, and silver–cadmium– indium (involving three adjacent elements on the periodic table) is useful in nuclear reactors because of its high thermal neutron capture cross-section , good conduction of heat, mechanical stability, and resistance to corrosion in hot water. The word silver appears in Old English in various spellings, such as seolfor and siolfor . It

11658-514: The hands of the Chinese. A Portuguese merchant in 1621 noted that silver "wanders throughout all the world... before flocking to China, where it remains as if at its natural center." Still, much of it went to Spain, allowing Spanish rulers to pursue military and political ambitions in both Europe and the Americas. "New World mines", concluded several historians, "supported the Spanish empire." In

11792-412: The highest electrical conductivity , thermal conductivity , and reflectivity of any metal . Silver is found in the Earth's crust in the pure, free elemental form (" native silver"), as an alloy with gold and other metals, and in minerals such as argentite and chlorargyrite . Most silver is produced as a byproduct of copper , gold, lead , and zinc refining . Silver has long been valued as

11926-543: The largest and most important town in the Kingdom of Hungary . The population tripled; many new palaces, monasteries, mansions, and streets were built, and the city was the centre of social and cultural life of the region. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart gave a concert in 1762 in the Pálffy Palace . Joseph Haydn performed in 1784 in the Grassalkovich Palace . Ludwig van Beethoven was a guest in 1796 in

12060-407: The lowest contact resistance of any metal. Silver is rarely used for its electrical conductivity, due to its high cost, although an exception is in radio-frequency engineering , particularly at VHF and higher frequencies where silver plating improves electrical conductivity because those currents tend to flow on the surface of conductors rather than through the interior. During World War II in

12194-618: The metal. The situation changed with the discovery of cupellation , a technique that allowed silver metal to be extracted from its ores. While slag heaps found in Asia Minor and on the islands of the Aegean Sea indicate that silver was being separated from lead as early as the 4th millennium BC , and one of the earliest silver extraction centres in Europe was Sardinia in the early Chalcolithic period , these techniques did not spread widely until later, when it spread throughout

12328-586: The most important centers of the Protestant Reformation in the country, the town belonged to the Protestant "League of Seven Mining Towns" together with Banská Belá , Banská Bystrica , Kremnica , Ľubietová , Nová Baňa , and Pukanec . The town was also a leading center of innovation in the mining industry. In 1627, gunpowder was used there in a mine for one of the first times in the world (After Le Thillot , France). To drain water from

12462-434: The most important oxidation state for silver in complexes is +1. The Ag cation is diamagnetic, like its homologues Cu and Au , as all three have closed-shell electron configurations with no unpaired electrons: its complexes are colourless provided the ligands are not too easily polarized such as I . Ag forms salts with most anions, but it is reluctant to coordinate to oxygen and thus most of these salts are insoluble in water:

12596-546: The most stable being Ag with a half-life of 41.29 days, Ag with a half-life of 7.45 days, and Ag with a half-life of 3.13 hours. Silver has numerous nuclear isomers , the most stable being Ag ( t 1/2 = 418 years), Ag ( t 1/2 = 249.79 days) and Ag ( t 1/2 = 8.28 days). All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives of less than an hour, and the majority of these have half-lives of less than three minutes. Isotopes of silver range in relative atomic mass from 92.950 u ( Ag) to 129.950 u ( Ag);

12730-521: The new Czechoslovak state . American Slovaks proposed rename the city “Wilsonovo mesto” (Wilson City), after Woodrow Wilson. On 28 October 1918, Czechoslovakia was proclaimed, but its borders were not settled for several months. The dominant Hungarian and German population tried to prevent annexation of the city to Czechoslovakia and declared it a free city , while the Hungarian Prime Minister Károlyi protested against

12864-598: The official figures. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia at the foot of the Little Carpathians , occupying both banks of the River Danube and the left bank of the River Morava . Bordering Austria and Hungary , it is the only national capital to border two sovereign states . The city's history has been influenced by people of many nations and religions, including Austrians , Bulgarians , Croats , Czechs , Germans , Hungarians , Jews and Slovaks . It

12998-588: The only objects with a high-enough palladium-to-silver ratio to yield measurable variations in Ag abundance. Radiogenic Ag was first discovered in the Santa Clara meteorite in 1978. Pd– Ag correlations observed in bodies that have clearly been melted since the accretion of the Solar System must reflect the presence of unstable nuclides in the early Solar System. Silver is a rather unreactive metal. This

13132-625: The ores of copper, copper-nickel, lead, and lead-zinc obtained from Peru , Bolivia , Mexico , China , Australia , Chile , Poland and Serbia . Peru, Bolivia and Mexico have been mining silver since 1546, and are still major world producers. Top silver-producing mines are Cannington (Australia), Fresnillo (Mexico), San Cristóbal (Bolivia), Antamina (Peru), Rudna (Poland), and Penasquito (Mexico). Top near-term mine development projects through 2015 are Pascua Lama (Chile), Navidad (Argentina), Jaunicipio (Mexico), Malku Khota (Bolivia), and Hackett River (Canada). In Central Asia , Tajikistan

13266-423: The oxide.) Silver(I) oxide is very easily reduced to metallic silver, and decomposes to silver and oxygen above 160 °C. This and other silver(I) compounds may be oxidized by the strong oxidizing agent peroxodisulfate to black AgO, a mixed silver(I,III) oxide of formula Ag Ag O 2 . Some other mixed oxides with silver in non-integral oxidation states, namely Ag 2 O 3 and Ag 3 O 4 , are also known, as

13400-577: The photosensitivity of silver salts, this behaviour may be induced by shining a light on its crystals. Silver complexes tend to be similar to those of its lighter homologue copper. Silver(III) complexes tend to be rare and very easily reduced to the more stable lower oxidation states, though they are slightly more stable than those of copper(III). For instance, the square planar periodate [Ag(IO 5 OH) 2 ] and tellurate [Ag{TeO 4 (OH) 2 } 2 ] complexes may be prepared by oxidising silver(I) with alkaline peroxodisulfate . The yellow diamagnetic [AgF 4 ]

13534-434: The population. Great epidemics were spreading in Bratislava in 1541–1542, 1552–1553, 1660–1665 and 1678–1681. A terrible outbreak of 1678–1681 left approximately 11,000 casualties among Bratislava’s residents (city population was in that time around 30,000 people). The last plague outbreak of Bratislava was between the years 1712–1713. Pressburg flourished during the 18th-century reign of Queen Maria Theresa , becoming

13668-961: The presence of potassium bromide ( KBr ). These compounds are used in photography to bleach silver images, converting them to silver bromide that can either be fixed with thiosulfate or redeveloped to intensify the original image. Silver forms cyanide complexes ( silver cyanide ) that are soluble in water in the presence of an excess of cyanide ions. Silver cyanide solutions are used in electroplating of silver. The common oxidation states of silver are (in order of commonness): +1 (the most stable state; for example, silver nitrate , AgNO 3 ); +2 (highly oxidising; for example, silver(II) fluoride , AgF 2 ); and even very rarely +3 (extreme oxidising; for example, potassium tetrafluoroargentate(III), KAgF 4 ). The +3 state requires very strong oxidising agents to attain, such as fluorine or peroxodisulfate , and some silver(III) compounds react with atmospheric moisture and attack glass. Indeed, silver(III) fluoride

13802-406: The primary decay mode before the most abundant stable isotope, Ag, is electron capture and the primary mode after is beta decay . The primary decay products before Ag are palladium (element 46) isotopes, and the primary products after are cadmium (element 48) isotopes. The palladium isotope Pd decays by beta emission to Ag with a half-life of 6.5 million years. Iron meteorites are

13936-419: The reaction of the bis(NHC)silver(I) complex with bis(acetonitrile)palladium dichloride or chlorido(dimethyl sulfide)gold(I) : Silver forms alloys with most other elements on the periodic table. The elements from groups 1–3, except for hydrogen , lithium , and beryllium , are very miscible with silver in the condensed phase and form intermetallic compounds; those from groups 4–9 are only poorly miscible;

14070-512: The region and beyond. The origins of silver production in India , China , and Japan were almost certainly equally ancient, but are not well-documented due to their great age. When the Phoenicians first came to what is now Spain , they obtained so much silver that they could not fit it all on their ships, and as a result used silver to weight their anchors instead of lead. By the time of

14204-701: The same as that of mercury . It mostly occurs in sulfide ores, especially acanthite and argentite , Ag 2 S. Argentite deposits sometimes also contain native silver when they occur in reducing environments, and when in contact with salt water they are converted to chlorargyrite (including horn silver ), AgCl, which is prevalent in Chile and New South Wales . Most other silver minerals are silver pnictides or chalcogenides ; they are generally lustrous semiconductors. Most true silver deposits, as opposed to argentiferous deposits of other metals, came from Tertiary period vulcanism. The principal sources of silver are

14338-693: The same time period. This production came to a nearly complete halt with the fall of the Roman Empire, not to resume until the time of Charlemagne : by then, tens of thousands of tonnes of silver had already been extracted. Central Europe became the centre of silver production during the Middle Ages , as the Mediterranean deposits exploited by the ancient civilisations had been exhausted. Silver mines were opened in Bohemia , Saxony , Alsace ,

14472-421: The shiny mountain) came to be called „Bánya“ (the mine). The single common name „Schebnyzbana“ was documented for the first time in 1255. The local Slavic population was joined by skilled German settlers who started arriving in the 13th century. They adapted the local name to the German "Schemnitz". Banská Štiavnica gained the status of a royal town in 1238, as one of the first towns in the Kingdom of Hungary. In

14606-668: The so-called " Bratislava bridgehead " (currently all three of them are part of Bratislava's 5th district ). After the Communist Party seized power in Czechoslovakia in February 1948, the city became part of the Eastern Bloc . The city annexed new land, and the population rose significantly, becoming 90% Slovak. Large residential areas consisting of high-rise prefabricated panel buildings , such as those in

14740-422: The stability of the 4d orbitals), so that the chemistry of silver is predominantly that of the +1 oxidation state, reflecting the increasingly limited range of oxidation states along the transition series as the d-orbitals fill and stabilize. Unlike copper , for which the larger hydration energy of Cu as compared to Cu is the reason why the former is the more stable in aqueous solution and solids despite lacking

14874-445: The stable filled d-subshell of the latter, with silver this effect is swamped by its larger second ionisation energy. Hence, Ag is the stable species in aqueous solution and solids, with Ag being much less stable as it oxidizes water. Most silver compounds have significant covalent character due to the small size and high first ionization energy (730.8 kJ/mol) of silver. Furthermore, silver's Pauling electronegativity of 1.93

15008-411: The story, containing an illustration of silver's metaphorical use of signifying the second-best in a series, better than bronze but worse than gold: But when good Saturn , banish'd from above, Was driv'n to Hell, the world was under Jove . Succeeding times a silver age behold, Excelling brass, but more excell'd by gold. In folklore, silver was commonly thought to have mystic powers: for example,

15142-402: The town's development was too closely linked to the mining activity which had been progressively declining since the second half of the 19th century. Nowadays, Banská Štiavnica is an important center of recreation and tourism, benefiting from its rich historical heritage. During World War II , Banská Štiavnica was taken by Soviet troops of the 53rd Army on 7 March 1945. The heart of the town

15276-550: The two castles built in Great Moravia, based on linguistic arguments and because of the absence of convincing archaeological evidence. The first written reference to a settlement named "Brezalauspurc" dates to 907 and is related to the Battle of Pressburg , during which a Bavarian army was defeated by the Hungarians . It is connected to the fall of Great Moravia, already weakened by its own inner decline and under

15410-619: The two states of the federalized Czechoslovakia . Bratislava's dissidents anticipated the fall of Communism with the Bratislava candle demonstration in 1988, and the city became one of the foremost centres of the anti-Communist Velvet Revolution in 1989. The end of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia in 1989 was followed once again by the country's dissolution, this time into two successor states . Czechoslovak Socialist Republic renamed as Czech and Slovak Federative Republic ,

15544-458: The weakness of the Ag–C bond. A few are known at very low temperatures around 6–15 K, such as the green, planar paramagnetic Ag(CO) 3 , which dimerizes at 25–30 K, probably by forming Ag–Ag bonds. Additionally, the silver carbonyl [Ag(CO)] [B(OTeF 5 ) 4 ] is known. Polymeric AgLX complexes with alkenes and alkynes are known, but their bonds are thermodynamically weaker than even those of

15678-643: The word "socialist" was dropped in the names of the two republics within the federation, the Slovak Socialist Republic renamed as the Slovak Republic . In 1993, Bratislava once again became the capital of the newly formed independent Slovak Republic , following the Velvet Divorce . Bratislava is situated in southwestern Slovakia, within the Bratislava Region . Its location on the borders with Austria and Hungary makes it

15812-499: The world production of silver was around a meagre 50 tonnes per year. In the Americas, high temperature silver-lead cupellation technology was developed by pre-Inca civilizations as early as AD 60–120; silver deposits in India, China, Japan, and pre-Columbian America continued to be mined during this time. With the discovery of America and the plundering of silver by the Spanish conquistadors, Central and South America became

15946-425: The year. It is often windy with a marked variation between hot summers and cold, humid winters. There also can sometimes be a significant difference in weather, between the parts of the city. Bratislava, just like any other city, has an urban heat island effect, but there is no weather station directly in the urban core, so the temperature there can be slightly higher than the official weather station reports. The city

16080-620: Was 65% Roman Catholics , 18.9% people with no religious affiliation, and 7.6% Lutherans . Banská Štiavnica is twinned with: The records for genealogical research are available at the state archive in Banská Bystrica ( Slovak : Štátny archív v Banskej Bystrici ). Silver Silver is a chemical element ; it has symbol Ag (from Latin argentum  'silver', derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erǵ ' shiny, white ' ) and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal , it exhibits

16214-413: Was also aware of sheet silver, exemplifying the malleability and ductility of the metal: "Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men." (Jeremiah 10:9) Silver also has more negative cultural meanings: the idiom thirty pieces of silver , referring to

16348-435: Was also based on the same surname, according to research by the lexicologist Milan Majtán, the Hungarian version is not found in any official records from the time in which the prince would have lived. All three versions, however, were related to those found in Slovak, Czech and German: Vratislaburgum (905), Braslavespurch, and Preslavasburc (both 907). The medieval settlement Brezalauspurc (literally, ' Braslav 's castle')

16482-515: Was captured by the Austrians in December 1848. Industry developed rapidly in the 19th century. The first horse-drawn railway in the Kingdom of Hungary, from Pressburg to Szentgyörgy ( Svätý Jur ), was built in 1840. A new line to Vienna using steam locomotives was opened in 1848, and a line to Pest in 1850. Many new industrial, financial and other institutions were founded; for example,

16616-494: Was declared a free royal town in 1405 by King Sigismund . In 1436, he authorized the town to use its own coat of arms . The Kingdom of Hungary was defeated by the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Mohács in 1526. The Ottomans besieged and damaged Pressburg, but failed to conquer it. Owing to Ottoman advances into Hungarian territory, the city was designated the new capital of Hungary in 1536, after becoming part of

16750-457: Was dominated mostly by the Habsburg monarchy and the city had a relevant ethnic German population. That is the term from which the pre-1919 Slovak ( Prešporok ) and Czech ( Prešpurk ) names are derived. The linguist Ján Stanislav believed the city's Hungarian name, Pozsony , to be attributed to the surname Božan, likely a prince who owned the castle before 950. Although the Latin name

16884-586: Was founded in Pressburg using a donation from István Széchenyi . In 1843 Hungarian was proclaimed the official language in legislation, public administration, and education by the Diet in the city. As a reaction to the Revolutions of 1848 , Ferdinand V signed the so-called April laws , which included the abolition of serfdom , at the Primate's Palace . The city chose the revolutionary Hungarian side, but

17018-510: Was more often used ornamentally or as money. Since silver is more reactive than gold, supplies of native silver were much more limited than those of gold. For example, silver was more expensive than gold in Egypt until around the fifteenth century BC: the Egyptians are thought to have separated gold from silver by heating the metals with salt, and then reducing the silver chloride produced to

17152-667: Was proposed by American Slovaks, as he supported national self-determination. The name Bratislava , which had been used only by some Slovak patriots, became official in March 1919 with the aim that a Slavic name could support demands for the city to be part of Czechoslovakia. Other alternative names of the city in the past include Greek : Ιστρόπολις , romanized :  Istropolis (meaning ' Danube City', also used in Latin), Latin : Posonium , Romanian : Pojon , Croatian : Požun . In older documents, confusion can be caused by

17286-554: Was razed, including the 19th-century Moorish-styled Neolog Synagogue. Communism also brought the practice of public toilets in Bratislava , which remained in practice after the fall of communism. In 1968, after the unsuccessful Czechoslovak attempt to liberalise the Communist regime, the city was occupied by Warsaw Pact troops. Shortly thereafter, it became capital of the Slovak Socialist Republic , one of

17420-485: Was renamed Engerau . The Starý most (Old Bridge) became a border bridge between Czechoslovakia and Nazi Germany. Bratislava was declared the capital of the first independent Slovak Republic on March 14, 1939, but the new state quickly fell under Nazi influence. In 1941–1942 and 1944–1945, the new Slovak government cooperated in deporting most of Bratislava's approximately 15,000 Jews; they were transported to concentration camps , where most were killed or died before

17554-488: Was the beginning of the conflict, which later continued as the Hungarian–Czechoslovak War . The city became the seat of Slovakia's political organs and organizations and became Slovakia's capital on 4 February. On March 27, 1919, the name Bratislava was officially adopted for the first time to replace the previous Slovak name Prešporok. At the beginning of August 1919, Czechoslovakia got permission to correct

17688-459: Was the coronation site and legislative center and capital of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1563 to 1783; eleven Hungarian kings and eight queens were crowned in St Martin's Cathedral . Most Hungarian parliament assemblies were held here from the 17th century until the Hungarian Reform Era , and the city has been home to many Hungarian, German and Slovak historical figures. Today, Bratislava

17822-577: Was the first mining school in the Kingdom of Hungary . Beginning in 1763, the Hofkammer in Vienna , with support from Queen Maria Theresa , transformed the school into the Academy of Mining. In 1807, a Forestry Institute was "established under the decision of Emperor Franz I "; in 1848 the school was renamed the Academy of Mining and Forestry , 'the first technical university in the world'. In 1919, after

17956-457: Was the usual Proto-Indo-European word for the metal, whose reflexes are missing in Germanic and Balto-Slavic. Silver was known in prehistoric times: the three metals of group 11, copper, silver, and gold, occur in the elemental form in nature and were probably used as the first primitive forms of money as opposed to simple bartering. Unlike copper, silver did not lead to the growth of metallurgy , on account of its low structural strength; it

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