History of Banska Bystrica

(later: castle)". The territory was inhabited by the Celtic tribe of the Cotini (Púchov culture) in the 3rd century BCE. The Germanic tribe of the Quadi took over the place during the Roman Era, leaving for instance a hoard of silver artifacts in Netopierska jaskyna (Bat Cave).

The present city was built upon a Slavic settlement, founded in the 9th century CE. It was later incorporated in Zolyom county in the Kingdom of Hungary. The first known stone church was built by Saxon immigrants in the then still independent settlement of Sasova in the first half of the 13th century. In 1255, King Bela IV granted Banska Bystrica extensive municipal privileges in order to attract more skilled settlers. Descendants of the German immigrants to this and other counties became later known as the Carpathian Germans. The city flourished as a regional mining center. It built the Late Romanesque Church of the Virgin Mary in the second half of the 13th century. During the same period, Banska Bystrica obtained its own coat of arms inspired by the coat of arms of the ruling dynasty of the Árpads, also used as the historical flag of the Kingdom of Hungary. The local craftsmen were organized in fifty guilds, with the butchers' guild being the oldest.

The affluent Fugger and Thurzo families founded the prosperous Ungarischer Handel company (German for "Hungarian Trade") in 1494. Depending mainly on the mines around Banská Bystrica, the company had become a leading world producer of copper by the 16th century. With the most sophisticated mining technologies in Europe, an advanced accounting system,