History of the Department
The Department of Physical Geography and Geoinformatics is one of the oldest geographical centres of education and scientific research in Slovakia. It is a successor of the Department of Physical Geography, created in 1952. Already in 1953, the division of cartography was formed. Numerous tutors of Slovak geography were involved, including professors Jozef Krcho, Michal Lukniš, Pavol Plesník, Michal Zaťko, and docent Ľudovít Mičian. In 1992, a division took place, from which originated the Department of Cartography, Geoinformatics, and Remote Sensing, along with the Department of Physical Geography and Geoecology. While these existed separately for nearly three decades, a close collaboration in scientific and educational activities remained present. The current Department of Physical Geography and Geoinformatics was created in 2021, when separate departments merged again.
1921 – first lectures of geography at the Faculty of Philosophy at the Comenius University in Bratislava (led by Karel Chotek, a professor of ethnography)
1923 – creation of the Seminary of Geography (Geografický seminár) at the Faculty of Philosophy at the Comenius University in Bratislava, since 1927 replaced by the Proseminár zemepisný (tutors Jiří Viktor Daneš, František Štůla, Jiří Král, and Jan Hromádka)
1938 – the seminary was divided into two centres: the Seminary of Anthropology (leader Jiří Král, from 1939 Jan Hromádka) and the Seminary of Physical Geography (leader Jan Hromádka)
1940 – creation of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the Slovak University (this name was used since 1939 to 1954) and within the Department of Geography (Ústav Geografický) (led by Jan Hromádka from 1940 to 1946 and Michal Lukniš from 1947 to 1950)
1950 – reorganization to the Katedra geografie (also "veľká Katedra geografie", leader Mikuláš Konček) with two centres: the Department of Geography (Ústav geografie) and the Department of Meteorology and Climatology (Ústav pre meteorológiu a klimatológiu)
1952 – the Department of Geography at the Slovak University (Ústav geografie) was moved to the newly created Faculty of Geology and Geography (Fakulta geologicko-geografických vied SU), which was separated (to 1959) from the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the Slovak University, while being divided into two departments: the Department of Physical Geography and the Department of Economic Geography
1953 – within the Department of Physical Geography, the division of cartography was formed
1987 – the name was changed to the Department of Physical Geography and Cartography
1992 – division into two departments: Department of Cartography, Geoinformatics, and Remote Sensing and Department of Physical Geography and Geoecology
2021 – merge of departments into the Department of Physical Geography and Geoinformatics.
