Giraltovce

Sister cities

• Ustrzyki Dolne

History

The town was first mentioned in 1383 as Giralth. It was named after a man called Geralth who was first hereditary scultetus (a locator serving a noble in founding a new village). The town was founded in the 13th century. In 1427 it was the property of the Széchy family, a few years later it belonged to the Somosy family. The scultetus had a leading role in the village. They acted as the representative of the village before the landlords, regional and religious authorities. They controlled villagers to pay their taxes. Moreover, they had also right of minor magistracy. Their rights were more restricted by changes in the 16th century. In the 17th century, the institution of hereditary scultetus in the village expired. Since that moment, local villagers voted their Chief Magistrate ("Richter"). The most privileged part of inhabitants of the village was nobility, who built at least two mansions there. Moreover, János Semsey conducted to build in the village the temple of the Lutheran church (1650 - 1654), which was the first temple built in the village. Before the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, Giraltovce was part of Sáros County within the Kingdom of Hungary. From 1939 to 1945, it was part of the Slovak Republic. On 18 January 1945, the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps and the Red Army dislodged the Wehrmacht from Giraltovce in the course of the Western Carpathian offensive and it was once again part of Czechoslovakia.