The "Pressburg 'Robinson' "
Ondrejský cintorín – Ondrej cemetery is located fairly close to the main bus station in Bratislava. It’s actually a pretty neat cemetery because to me, it’s a “Pressburg” cemetery. What I mean by “Pressburg” is that the people who are buried in Ondrejský cintorín reflect the population of Pressburg (the town name of Bratislava before 1918) from the 18th to 20th centuries. If you walk through Ondrejský cintorín, you will see grave stones in three languages, with names of people from three ethnicities: German, Hungarian, and Slovak.
In the section of the cemetery on the left side of the church, there is a pamiatnik – monument to the “Pressburg ‘Robinson’ ”, Karl Jetting. Who was Karl Jetting and why is there a monument to him?
The monument dates Karl Jetting as born in Pressburg on September 13, 1730 and having died in 1790. When I took a Slovak language class through Comenius University, our instructor gave us the story of Karl Jetting to read in class. The story is as follows:
Karl Jetting was born in Pressburg. When he was young, he left home for Vienna and soon after that, left for London. After some years, he served as an official to the King of England and was sent to serve in Senegal. His ship left London in 1772 but never arrived to its final destination. It was shipwrecked. Though he barely survived, he was taken prisoner by the Moors who forced him into slavery.
An English officer heard about his fate and bought him. For his service to the king, Jetting was commissioned as consular to the French town of Marseille but he never arrived there either. His ship was attacked by pirates and was enslaved once again. He was set free by someone who also gave him money and passage back to Europe. Along the way, close to Malta, that ship was yet again attacked by pirates. Jetting jumped ship and swam to a small island where he was marooned for seven months alone, before he was discovered by another ship and taken to Europe.
Exhausted, Karl Jetting returned to Pressburg where his mother was still living, and also his long-time love, which he eventually married.
Interesting story, isn’t it? He’s called the “Pressburg ‘Robinson’ ” after the sailor character Robinson Crusoe from the book of the same name, by Daniel Defoe.
Could such an amazing story be true? For sure doubters exist. According to one journalist who went searching for answers, no birth or death records exist for anyone with the name of Karl Jetting in Bratislava, and though the monument in Ondrejský cintorín says he’s buried there, the exact location is actually unknown. The monument was erected on the 50th anniversary of his death by the City of Pressburg, but no records were kept about the monument in the city archives.
None the less, it’s an interesting story and an interesting place to visit if you happen to be walking through Ondrejský cintorín. It’s a peaceful stroll through a small cemetery, so close to the noise of the city, and yet separated from it. I for one, hope the story of Karl Jetting is true. Even if it’s not, there’s got to be something to the story to have kept it going all of these years.
3 Comments on “The "Pressburg 'Robinson' "”
I have to tell you what a great pleasure it is to me reading your blogs. You're fantastic in describing those things that are so common for us but they are really inevitable part of our culture and generally us, Slovaks! You're definitely born to be writing about us!! Reading your lines I'm discovering things, that I'm passing by daily but don't know much about, and that's a pity! Keep doing this!!
February 11th, 2008 at 03:49 AM
Hi :) Actuallu I just finished reading a book called "Adventures of Pressburg Robinson" (Dobrodružstvá Bratislavského Robinsona" written by Jozsef Hunyady. Its a really thrilling story of Carl Jettings life. Gotta correct what you wrote there . The book says , when he was set free and given the money to travel back to Europe, he was captured by slavers and forced to serve on a pirate galley as a rower for 3 years , until his ship was sunk by English near Papua New Guinea. There he spent more than 10 years stranded on a coral island until the English ship found him. Well thats what the book says , might not be true , but its worth reading anyway :)
February 15th, 2008 at 07:54 AM
Thanks for the clarification, Lano. And I didn't know an entire book had been written on Jetting's life. That's really good to know.
February 15th, 2008 at 06:28 PM