Piešťany á la Mr. Winter

Experiential Tour of the Town with an audio play in headphones and live performances by actors in the streets of the spa town. From 21 September to 26 October 2024, every Saturday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. 

Experiential Tour Piešťany á la Mr. Winter stands on the borderline between a dramatic work and a guided tour. It is based on the memoirs of a man who started to build the Piešt’any Spa at the age of 20 and did not slacken in his efforts even when he returned from a concentration camp in poor health. 

Tickets: krajzazitkov.sk

If necessary, the Piešt’any Information Centre staff will help you with your reservation. We will be happy to answer your questions by phone +421 948 989 010 or +421 947 958 993 and by e-mail info@krajzazitkov.sk. The price of a basic ticket is 14 eur, discounted admission (child from 3 to 15 years, senior citizen over 65 years, disabled and disabled-S) costs 12 eur.

Anyone who has ever visited Piešťany is likely to have come across the name Winter all over the town. And as is often the case with people after whom streets and squares are named, he did something pretty remarkable. 

To stroll through the town of Piešťany is to wander through the life of Ľudovít Winter. When he took over the management of Piešťany Spa at the tender age of twenty, the town was – well, how to put it politely? – in a bit of a state. Where today you see cobblestones, there was mud. Where today’s squares are, there was ploughed land. Piešťany was home to around 6,000 Slovak peasants back then, packed into huts with thatched roofs and floors made of nothing but earth. Within 30 years, Ľudovít Winter succeeded in transforming Piešťany into a respectable spa resort.

The unique local mud and thermal waters, the iconic Crutch Breaker statue, and the majestic Thermia Hotel are enduring symbols of Piešťany celebrated worldwide. Winter was a shrewd businessman, but, more than that, he was a big-hearted man who was always there to provide help wherever it was needed. Such was his commitment to community welfare that he established the workers’ hospital Pro Labore and the military hospital Pro Patria, introduced a sewage system, paved roads, built squares, and planted parks. In short, he elevated the standard of living in Piešťany to unparalleled heights, defying the conventional expectations of what it meant to be “Slovak” at the time. 

How did he accomplish all of this? Ľudovít Winter’s life brimmed with unforeseen twists and turns, dramatic episodes, and at times absurd – even grotesque – situations. Join us on a journey into the past as we uncover the secrets of Piešťany’s history. 

Ľudovít Winter is awaits you now, sitting on a bench on the Colonnade Bridge, ready to tell you his story. Piešťany á la Mr. Winter is a production based on the surviving memoirs of Ľudovít Winter. 

Concept and script: Lucia Mihálová 
Direction and music: Juraj Bielik 
Theme and production: Trnavský kraj zážitkov 
Costumes: Katarína Žgančíková 
Performers in the recording 
Narrator: Martin Hronský  
Winter: Juraj Ďuriš  
Mama, Irma: Mária Breinerová  
Leona, Prosecutor: Katarína Šafaříková  
Father, Rónai, Doerner: Tomáš Vravník  
Count William, Voice, Butler, Newspaper: Mário Drgoňa  
Tolnai, Mayor: Juraj Bielik  

Live performances by the theatre ensembles: Divadlo Etapy, Divadlo Z malého Ríma 

Tour route: Ľudovít Winter statue on Colonnade Bridge, Kursalon, Green Tree, Crutch Breaker, Hotel Thermia Palace, Pro Patria, Eva Swimming Pool 

Financially supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Sport of the Slovak Republic.