History of Rakytovce

The Rakytovce area formed part of the Zvolen group of the Lusatian culture. In 1947, Professor J. Bojsa discovered three Bronze Age burial mounds at the site of Líščí kopec above Kremnička. The Zvolen Basin is known for finds of bronze swords and other artefacts.

The finds of Celtic armour from Detva are the closest to Rakytovce — an iron sword with a scabbard, a belt, lances and spears. The Celtic population was probably drawn to the mountains around the Zvolen Basin by iron ore deposits.

In the year 166 AD, one of the most significant conflicts in the history of Roman-Barbarian relations on the Middle Danube broke out — the Marcomannic Wars. The archaeologist K. Pieta suggests that, in the Pohronie region, the Romans controlled territory extending roughly as far as Banská Bystrica.

During the 11th century, under the reign of the first Hungarian kings, all land was concentrated in their hands. The administrative unit of the territory was Zvolen County, headed by a county governor acting as the king’s representative.

“The land belonging to what would later become Rakytovce was set aside for Mikuláš, son of Abrahám, covering an area of two ploughlands, on the basis of a royal grant dated 18 October 1295, specifically from the Badín estate.”

The royal estate covered approximately 65 hectares. A settlement was established on this land, which later came to be known as Rakytovec. As early as the 15th century, it was divided into Upper and Lower Rakytovec.

Before 1467, the Gubovci family mortgaged their estate at Horný Rakytovec to Juraj Barla. In 1491, Anna Barlová pledged Dolný Rakytovec for 3,000 gold coins to the noble family of Ondrej Jušt of Vígľaš.

The historian Pavol Maliniak has compiled the place names marking the boundaries of the Rakytovce district as recorded in a charter dating from 1575. The first witness was the 90-year-old squire Peter Bakalár.

“The boundary began at places called Na Dužiny číže, then ran along three embankments, past the forest, from there to Krásny vršok, then to the stone and the crooked birch, on to two springs and finally to Krmník.”

The second half of the 16th century was a period marked by the incursion of Turkish troops into central Slovakia. By 1591, Turkish forces had already reached Vlkanová, Šalková and Bečov. However, the Turkish raids did not significantly affect Rakytovce.

Tax registers record the names of taxpayers, the number of household members, livestock holdings, and ownership of fields, meadows and houses.

Between 1773 and 1848, there was only one farming family in Rakytovce — the Kvasnovec family. They have remained settled in this area to this day.

A brown coal mine was opened near Badín in the late 19th century. The first exploratory drilling was carried out by Professor Alojz Wehrle and the mineralogist Friedrich Mohs. A 120-metre-long adit was constructed.

At the height of its prosperity, 120 permanent workers were employed there every day. The coal was transported by cableway through the Rakytovce cadastral area.

“The cableway operated only during the day and had a transport capacity of 10 tonnes of coal per hour. Fifty loads were transported per hour.”

Around 1906, three Slobodník brothers — Andrej, Jozef and Juraj — decided to leave for America. Andrej left behind his wife and son, and never returned to Slovakia. Jozef settled in Chicago.

During the war years, the mine building also served as a military hospital. Some of the miners who had served on the front lines of the First World War were sent home early due to concerns about the supply of coal and iron.

The battles to liberate Rakytovce took place in March 1945. In 1971, Rakytovce was incorporated into the town of Banská Bystrica as one of its districts.

Today, the village has a population of 912 (an increase of 55 per cent compared with 2008). The village retains its rural character, with an active Volunteer Fire Brigade (celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2024) and a Classicist-style bell tower dating from 1931.