Special Feature: The Thirsty Man

The Wise Men are accompanied by a Gottscheer man who, thirsty, drinks from a small barrel known as a putscherle. This small but remarkable detail reveals to visitors a glimpse of everyday life in the Kočevje region centuries ago. Putscherles were produced by the Gottscheers and sold in neighbouring regions and countries. Their importance is further attested by the fact that the renowned polymath Johann Weikhard Valvasor depicted the Gottscheers with putscherles in his extensive work The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola (1689).

Other Church Furnishings

The Church of the Three Wise Men stands in the centre of the village of Črni Potok (German: Schwarzenbach), which is listed in the register of cultural heritage as settlement heritage due to its well-preserved village core. The church rises on a small elevation in the middle of the village. Remnants of the former village cemetery wall recall the old cemetery, which was relocated in 1836 to nearby Zajčje Polje (German: Hasenfeld, Gottscheerish: Huəshnbold).

In addition to the main fresco, the church contains other exceptionally well-preserved furnishings. Among these are smaller wall paintings of the Crucified Christ and St. Michael weighing souls on a scale, as well as a late-17th-century altar, which also depicts the Adoration of the Three Wise Men.

Above the clock mechanism in the bell tower hang two iron bells dating from 1923; the smaller one is a donation from the Eisenzopf family from America.

Threats to the Church Due to Structural Damage

Today, the church is unfortunately in very poor condition. Ground subsidence and earthquake damage have caused deep cracks in the structure, threatening both the building itself and the valuable frescoes. Without timely and appropriate measures, there is a serious risk that an important part of the historical and cultural heritage will be lost.

Since 2023, the Putscherle Institute has been working to protect and restore this cultural monument. A significant step forward was made at the beginning of 2025, when the Municipality of Kočevje allocated initial funds for professional analyses. These will precisely determine the necessary restoration measures – but it is already clear that the renovation will be extensive and financially demanding, and we will therefore be grateful for any donation.

The church in Črni Potok is not merely an architectural remnant. It is a bearer of local identity, a silent narrator of regional history, and a symbol of cultural coexistence in the Kočevje region. Preserving such places means preserving memory – and also creates opportunities for the development of cultural tourism in the region. Treh kraljev v Črnem Potoku ni le arhitekturni ostanek. Je nosilka identitete prostora, tiha pripovedovalka lokalne zgodovine in simbol sobivanja kultur na Kočevskem. Ohranitev takšnih krajev pomeni ohranitev spomina – pa tudi priložnost za razvoj kulturnega turizma na Kočevskem.

Sources:

Resman, Blaž in Helena Seražin. 2010. Upravna enota Kočevje: umetnostna topografija Kočevske. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC.

Zupan, Gojko, Ferenc, Mitja in France Dolinar. 1993. Cerkve na Kočevskem nekoč in danes. Kočevje: Župnija, Muzej.

V prejšnji objavi preberite: Turški vpadi: odsev v kočevarskem izročilu

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Today, as we ascend the asphalt road from Črmošnjice towards the Gače ski resort or venture further into the vast forest, we have only telltale signs that we are passing through one of the largest former Gottscheer villages in this part of Kočevski Rog. This is Topli Vrh, situated on the sunny side of Topli vrh Hill. As early as prehistoric times, there was a hillfort or elevated settlement on top of this hill, and it controlled the road through the valley.

The village dates back to the 13th century. In the 1574 urbarium, the name of the village is recorded as Tablwerch. At that time, there were 6 part-time farming operations in the village, with between 30 and 35 residents. In 1770, the village had 15 houses, and the number was the same in 1824. At that time, the compilers of the Franciscan cadastre recorded that the village had 114 inhabitants, of which 56 were men and 58 women. It is also evident from the cadastre that the houses stood along the road, and the village was surrounded by meadows, orchards, fields and forest.

In 1880, there were 21 houses and 123 inhabitants, and in 1900 there were 129 inhabitants. In 1936, the village had 24 occupied houses with 125 inhabitants, and another five houses stood derelict. The villagers were engaged in cutting down the forest and selling wood. Some were probably also charcoal burners. In addition, they also farmed and raised livestock to meet their needs. In 1834, 3 horses, 30 oxen, 11 cows, 10 calves and lambs, 45 sheep and 15 pigs were recorded in the village. Some inhabitants were also involved in the manufacture and sale of wooden containers. Two landowners also cultivated a vineyard on Semiška gora Hill.

Children from Tople Vrh attended school in Črmošnjice. Its origins go back to the year 1822. In 1929, 24 out of 108 inhabitants of Topli vrh were schoolchildren. Heavy snow and snow drifts were a problem for children attending school in winter.

The Church of St St Peter and St Paul

Church of Peter and Paul (whose feast day is 29 June) is a parish church of the Črmošnjice parish. Its first mention dates back to 1689, when Valvasor referred to it in his Glory of the Duchy of Carniola. The church is probably at least 200 years older than this. On the main, engraved altar (erected at the end of the 17th or beginning of the 18th century) were statues of St Peter and St Paul, and adorning the side were statues of St Anthony and St Francis, as well as some other lesser known saints. There were also two side altars decorated with paintings of St Mary, the Mother of Good Counsel, and the Saints Cosmas and Damian. A wooden vault arched over the church nave, and there was a wooden chancel, a pulpit and 27 pews. Three bells hung in the bell tower.

The village and church during and immediately after World War II

Topli Vrh shared the fate of most of the Gottscheer villages in Kočevski Rog. After the occupation by the army of fascist Italy, all 118 inhabitants of the village left the village on 20 and 21 December 1941 and moved via the railway station to Semič in the Lower Sava Valley and Posotelje on what was then the lower border of Hitler’s Nazi Third Reich. The village was burnt down by the Italian army on 22 July 1942 during an offensive. One house and the church escaped the fire. During the offensive, Italian soldiers stayed there and destroyed the church pews and parts of the altars by burning them. On the wall, which had been scorched by fire, they scratched in Italian the words “Partisans were destroyed” (still visible in 1947). Partisans also spent at least one night in the church; in August 1942, a battalion of the Tomšič Brigade is mentioned. The village was never rebuilt. Between 1943 and 1945, several hidden partisan hospitals functioned in the forests nearby. The window frames of the damaged church and some of the roof tiles were used to build them. Paintings and altar statues were destroyed or damaged.

Immediately after the end of the war, the ruins of the houses were razed and the building materials used in constructing the embankments of the road to Komarna village. The church walls were once again blasted in 1964. The bell tower was, however, left in place, as due to its strategic position it served as an orientation point for the military authorities. The village of Topli Vrh was abandoned as a settlement in 1955, as were one third of the destroyed former settlements in the Kočevska region.

“We went to Topli Vrh” – a wedding in March 1945

The painters Alenka Gerlovič and Vito Globočnik worked as artists in the Partisan movement. In 1944 and 1945, they also visited and depicted the burnt village of Topli Vrh. The lovers decided to get married. Their superiors initially opposed this. They wanted a modest wedding without pomp, which they arbitrarily held on 23 March 1945 at the top of the bell tower of the church in Topli Vrh. This ritual was witnessed by the statues of two armless saints that they took from the damaged altar. They carved their names and the date into the beam on the bell tower, and their informal marriage was sealed.

Topli Vrh in the 21st Century

Today, the scant stone remains of the church, houses, their water reservoirs and fruit trees are all that is left of the former village. The 1:50 scale model of the church was made by Tone Troha. The pastures are grazed by cattle and horses from the Mihelčič farm in the Municipality of Semič.

The most visible remnant of the former village is the church bell tower. In 2004, the modest remains of the church were cleaned and the roof of the bell tower was restored and covered with copper roofing. Inside, wooden stairs have been installed. The restoration was carried out by the Society of Native Gottschee Settlers and volunteers with financial support from South Tyrol. The greed for copper roofing and repeated attempts to steal it finally struck a final blow to the renovation efforts. During an attempted theft of the copper roofing on 3 April 2023, a spark from metal cutting probably caused the fire. Thus, the bell tower is once again roofless, left to slow dilapidation and silently calling out for restoration or at least some temporary protection. Perhaps in the future, the will and the strength to preserve and showcase our heritage will be mustered again.

Sources:

Arhiv Republike Slovenije, Franciscejski kataster za Kranjsko, k. o. Črmošnjice pri Kočevju, Katastrski cenilni elaborat, https://vac.sjas.gov.si/vac/search/details?id=375384 (dostop: november 2024).
Krajevni leksikon Dravske banovine (1937), dLib, https://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-IHXHRWQE, (dostop: november 2024).
Slovenska historična topografija za Kranjsko do leta 1500, ZRC SAZU, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/9789612549749, https://topografija.zrc-sazu.si/ (dostop: november 2024).
Slovenski šolski muzej, Šolski list (1929), Državna mešana šola v Črmošnjicah, Zgodovina Slovenije — SIstory, https://www.sistory.si/publication/24112 (dostop: november 2024).
Gottscheermatzelle, https://gottscheermatzelle.wordpress.com/gottscheer-history/, (dostop: november 2024).
Ministrstvo za kulturo, Register kulturne dediščine, Interaktivna karta kulturne dediščine, https://geohub.gov.si/ghapp/giskd/ (dostop: november 2024).
Obrazi slovenskih pokrajin, Alenka Gerlovič in Vito Globočnik, https://www.obrazislovenskihpokrajin.si/oseba/gerlovic-alenka/, https://www.obrazislovenskihpokrajin.si/oseba/globocnik-vito/ (dostop: november 2024).
Perko Drago. Kradli baker, zažgali cerkev! Slovenske novice, 5. 4. 2023, https://www.slovenskenovice.si/novice/slovenija/kradli-baker-zazgali-cerkev-foto/ (dostop: november 2024).
PGD Semič, Požar na Toplem Vrhu, 3. 4. 2023, https://www.facebook.com/profile/100064566140803/search/?q=toplem%20&locale=sl_SI (dostop: november 2024).
Topli Vrh: Zagorel spomeniško zaščiten zvonik, 4. 4. 2023, https://moja-dolenjska.si/topli-vrh-zagorel-spomenisko-zasciten-zvonik/#goog_rewarded (dostop: november 2024).
Ferenc Mitja in Zupan Gojko. Cerkve na Kočevskem nekoč in danes II. Ljubljana: ZRC SAZU, 2006.
Ferenc Mitja in Zupan Gojko. Izgubljene kočevske vasi: nekoč so z nami živeli kočevski Nemci. 3. del. Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete, 2013.
Ferenc Mitja in Zupan Gojko. Po sledeh Kočevarjev v Črmošnjiško-Poljanski dolini / Auf den Spuren der Gottscheer in der Moschnitze. Dolenjske Toplice : Društvo Kočevarjev staroselcev = Gottscheer Altsiedler Verein, 2013.
Gerlovič Alenka. Okruški mojega življenja. Ljubljana: Forma 7, 2006.
Janežič Zvonka. Arheološka najdišča Kočevskega roga in Poljanske gore. Diplomsko delo. Oddelek za arheologijo Filozofske fakultete univerze v Ljubljani, 2022.
Mohar Rozi. Tu so živeli …Semič: Občina, 2008.
Prelesnik Anton. Vodni viri na Kočevskem / Wasserquellen im Gottscheerland. Dolenjske Toplice, Ljubljana: Društvo Kočevarjev staroselcev, ZRC SAZU, 2007.
Simonič Binca, ur. Župnija Črmošnjice 500 let: 1509-2009. Semič: Župnija, 2009.
Strle Franci. Tomšičeva brigada 1942-1943. Ljubljana: Borec in Partizanska knjiga, 1986.
Troha Anton in Anton Prelesnik. Makete kočevarskih cerkva in krajev / Maquetten von Gottscheer Kirchen und Ortschaften. Ljubljana: “Maks Viktor” in Dolenjske Toplice: Društvo Kočevarjev staroselcev, 2011.

Previous post: The Mala Knežja jama (Fürstloch) and the Jama nad Dolgim vodnjakom caves: archaeological sites in the central part of Kočevski Rog.

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On 6 February 1795, Prince Wilhelm of Auersperg (finally) obtained a granted concession from Vienna and construction works commenced. However, because the works proceeded slowly, pig iron first flowed from the blast furnace only a year later, on 17 April 1796. Production immediately exceeded expectations. The ironworks buildings were built on the banks of the Krka River, and water was used to power bellows for blowing air into the blast furnace and kilns, to drive sledgehammers, to wash and crush ore, and to power machines in the mechanical workshops, wood lathes, grinders, saws and pumps.

With the advent of the water-powered double drum blower, which was built in Dvor, iron ore production was even faster. The quality and quantity of pig iron produced have also increased significantly. This allowed the Dvor Ironworks to expand and modernise. In 1804, the Dvor Ironworks became the first ironworks in the whole of the then Slovenian territory to smelt cast iron directly from the blast furnace.

The Dvor Ironworks: Unrivalled in the Whole of Carniola

After the abolition of the Illyrian provinces, the iron manufacturing industry in Carniola fell into a severe crisis. In March 1817, the management of the Dvor Ironworks reduced the number of employees from 216 to 92, and the total production of iron dropped sharply from 493 to 143 tonnes. The drastic cuts were caused by competition from English and Swedish iron in Italy and the Middle East, which was 20% cheaper. Nevertheless, from 1820 to the mid-19th century, the Dvor Ironworks had no real competition in Carniola, as it was the only iron foundry that dominated the domestic market, as well as the markets in Italy and Croatia.

In 1822, the dilapidated blast furnace was rebuilt and raised by 2.5 metres, and two years later, two more cupola furnaces with a height of over three metres high were built. They enabled pig iron from the blast furnace to be melted directly into cast iron. The cupola furnaces enabled a significantly higher production of quality cast iron, and the transformation of the Dvor Ironworks from a classical ironworks to a large iron foundry was complete. During this period, a limestone and slag crusher, a sledgehammer, a crane for carrying heavier products and a new material storage building were also acquired. In the 1830s, the Dvor Iron Foundry again employed between 220 and 250 workers and produced between 392 and 448 tonnes of pig iron, foundry and other products annually. It has thus become the largest and even the only foundry in the whole area south of the Alps.

As such, it struggled to meet the great number of orders it received from home and abroad. Its products were abroad mainly sold in Italy and Croatia. In 1835, it also had three warehouses: in Ljubljana (in Auersperg’s Princely Court), in Trieste and in Venice. In Dvor, the quality of the products was ensured by well-trained employees, who came mainly from the Styrian lands. The Dvor Iron Foundry also employed a large number of miners, foresters, charcoal-burners and carriage drivers, who were exclusively locals. Until the middle of the 19th century, there was no iron foundry in Carniola that was comparable to the one in Dvor in terms of technology, quality and quantity of the products produced and the number of workers. On 13 March 1836, it was therefore granted the status of a privileged ironworks at provincial level.

Poor Management and the Emergence of competition Led to an Inglorious End

On 9 August 1836, the Dvor Ironworks was hit hard by the death of its most successful director, Ignatz Vitus Engelbert Pantz. Owner Auersperg has not had a lucky hand in choosing his successor. In the years that followed, a lack of management experience and poor business decisions by Pantz’s successors led to the deterioration of many factory buildings and installations. The lack of even basic maintenance work has led to a sharp decline in the quality of pig iron and iron products. Irregular payments also caused the workers’ eagerness and productivity to dwindle.

In addition, in the second half of the 19th century, the Dvor Iron-Foundry also found a competitor in the Rosthorn Ironworks in Prevalje in Carinthia, which mainly produced rails, axles and railway wheels. Foundries in Bohinjska Bistrica (producing pinions, hydro turbines, rings and pistons for steam engines, sewer equipment and iron railings) and in Gradac in White Carniola (Bela Krajina) (producing mainly semi-finished products made of iron, and ammunition) were also put into operation. The Dvor Ironworks did not undergo any major technological development in the second half of the 19th century.

Moreover, in 1870, before the great banking crisis in the Habsburg Monarchy, it was still fully operational. It continued to produce agricultural machinery and tools, mining and ironworks machinery, mill machinery, etc. However, by this time there already operated 27 competing iron foundries in the Austrian part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Many other iron foundries in the monarchy already had railway connections to their markets, but in Dvor, raw materials and products still had to be transported by horse-drawn carts. However, the status of the Dvor Ironworks deteriorated drastically after the foundation of the Austrian-Alpine Coal, Iron and Steel Industry Company in Vienna in 1881. In a very short time, it dominated the ironworks industry in the whole of Inner Austria and, with its performance and diversification of iron industry, dictated the direction of development in this industry and thus the fate of the existence of other iron foundries.

The Dvor Ironworks managed to keep up with the competition for only about six years before it finally lost power. Due to competitors using more modern assets and because of outdated transport connections made the production much more expensive, and this was the main reason for the final collapse of this once leading Carniolan iron foundry. On 1 October 1891, the Dvor Ironworks officially ceased operations altogether. For Dvor and the surrounding area, its closure was a severe economic blow, leaving many people jobless. This was followed by increased migrations from the area. For ten years after the closure of the foundry, the inhabitants of Dvor quietly hoped that production would resume, at least to a limited extent, but in the end it never came about.

Predominantly Artistic Pieces and Useful Products

Throughout its history, the Dvor Iron Foundry has produced a wide variety of mainly artistic pieces and useful products. For example, they produced 94 different types of machines, machine parts, tools, kitchenware, irons, stoves, roof tiles, tomb crosses, railings and weights, and they also cast 89 different types of artistic castings for personal, domestic and ecclesiastical use (imperial and royal coats of arms, religious and ancient reliefs, writing instruments, clock and iron bases, candlesticks, jewellery, etc.). The production of artistic cast iron products, such as tombstones, decorated stoves, railings, window grilles, fountains, etc., was a special feature of the Dvor Ironworks.

Its products were not drastically different in shape from those of other renowned foundries across Europe. As early as 1820, naval cannons were being cast according to English models. The products were also labelled in Dvor, most famously with the HOF IN KRAIN signature. The products of the Dvor Iron Foundry were distinguished at three industrial and trade exhibitions of the Inner Austrian states and were unrivalled among the hardware products in Slovenia. In 1833, they also cast the one-metre-high coat of arms of the Auersperg princes in Dvor for the façade of the health spa building in Dolenjske Toplice.

Round and square coal and wood-fired stoves formed an important part of the production of the Dvor Ironworks. They had 14 different stove models in stock. In addition to these, cannons of various calibres, ammunition, boilers, pots for cookers, kitchen and other bowls, cooker plates, cemented ballasts, kitchen mortars, door jambs, plumbing tubes and sewer covers were cast. Two thirds of total production was devoted to cast products.

Sources:

• Pungerčar, Majda. 2021. Na Dvoru ulita umetnost. Novo mesto: Dolenjski muzej.
• Šorn, Jože. 1980. Železarna na Dvoru pri Žužemberku: zgodovina, tehnologija, izdelki. Novo mesto: Dolenjski muzej.
• Žargi, Matija. 2000. Železarna na Dvoru ob Krki. Novo mesto: Dolenjska založba.

Prejšnja objava: Ljudska balada o detomorilki: slovenske in kočevarske različice.

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The Ballad of the Child Murderess: Comparison of Slovenian and Gottscheer Ballads

Before World War II, versions of the ballad involving a child murderess were also widespread in the Kočevsko Region. The first Gottscheer variant is very similar to the Slovenian one: instead of a shepherd, an old man appears, but otherwise it involves a similar development of the motif. In the Slovenian versions, the mother murdered two children, threw them into the water, and put one in a hollow beech tree or under a block of beech wood. In the Gottscheer version, the little child is taken to the house where the wedding is taking place by an old man, but in the Slovene version they are mostly taken by the uncle (mother’s brother). In all the variants, both Slovenian and Gottscheer, the mother bride denies giving birth, and in all of them she wears a green wreath expressing her innocence. In the Slovene versions, the wreath alters its appearance or starts to burn, while in the Gottscheer version (and in the first written Slovene version), the child murderess is carried away by the devil.

However, the second Gottscheer version is quite different. There is a dialogue between the mother and a girl, Mina, who laments to her mother that she is not feeling well, whereupon her mother advises her what to do three times. When the advice is to no avail, Mina admits that she is pregnant. She has previously given birth to nine children, two of them she concealed in a tree and she drowned the others. The girl ventures off into the forest, where she dies during labour, and her son remains in her arms. The song ends with the son studying to become a priest and save his mother, father and friends from perdition through masses, but not his grandmother, who never helped his mother.

We present the Gottscheer variant in the fragment below. There are 188 Slovenian versions of this type of song (published in Slovenian Folk Songs, Slovenska matica and Založba ZRC, 2007; SFS V/type 286):

Ballad of the Child Murderess, Hauffen 1895, No. 79: English translation (via Slovenian translation):

The Ballad of a Condemned Child Murderess Based on a True Story

Let us say a few words about a special type of ballad involving a child murderess. The ballad of a condemned child murderess belongs among the so-called family ballads. So far, 80 variants are known throughout Slovenia. This is one of the rare type of ballad that originated in an urban setting and then spread to the countryside, as can be inferred from the geographical spread of the variants recorded.

The story of the unfortunate illegitimate mother who murders her new-born child and is condemned to death was based on a real-life event. Information about it can be found in the account ledgers of the Municipal Court of Ljubljana, where payments to executioners for their activities are recorded. Thus, under the expenses in 1766, it is stated that on 23 October 1766, Martin Jakob, the executioner from Št. Vid in Carinthia, received 40 goldinars because on the previous day, he had executed with a sword Urša Mandlovka (Maldnlovka, Mandeljc?), household name Kustrovka, aged 17. She had a reputation for being the most beautiful girl under the bell of St. Peter’s Parish Church in Ljubljana and had been convicted of infanticide.

The Punishment of Urša Mandlovka

Urša was thrown into jail, i.e. the dungeon (tranča), after which one of the oldest parts of Ljubljana is named today – Ulica pod Trančo Street, as mentioned in some versions of the ballad. Ursa’s boyfriend and the child’s father is said to have been a farmhand called Jurij. She murdered the child because she feared the harsh penalties and public shame that came with illegitimate motherhood. A girl with an illegitimate child had to stand barefoot as a sinner before the gates of the (St.Peter’s) Parish Church, holding her baby in her arms and a burning candle in her right hand. Her braids were cut off and two straw plaits were pinned in their place. People who came to the church would revile her and spit on her, and whoever wanted to was allowed to strike her with a rod that lay at her feet. The crown of straw symbolised the loss of virginity, the rod a sign of punishment and the burning candle a sign of penance.

Such exposures were partly abandoned under Empress Maria Theresa’s 1769 Penal and Procedural Code (Constitutio Criminalis Theresiana), which mostly stipulated fines, escalating fines and corporal punishments instead of shameful exposure. In 1868, the civil authorities moved public executions behind the walls of the gaols, but after 1873, when the new Penal Code was published, they were no longer allowed at all.

The circumstances that led to the infanticide were not taken into account by the male judges, because the woman was not considered a person, instead being the property of men. Indeed, the ballad does not touch on these issues either and all the blame was attributed to the illegitimate sexual activity of the girls, which was strongly condemned by the ecclesiastical lords. None of the ballad variants depict the social problems, i.e. poverty and the difficult social situation of the child murderesses. Urška Mandlovka was sentenced to death as a poor girl, but the executioner fell in love with her and begged the judges to allow him to take her as his wife to save her from perdition. Urška refused this because of the very strong popular belief at the time that the executioner (hangman, headsman) was associated with the devil.

She was executed at the Ljubljana scaffold at Friškovec, where a stone cross stood in the middle of the fields. The song also mentions the “place” of execution, namely “in the middle of a field in Ljubljana”. The procession passed through the suburbs of Šentjanž along present-day Vidovdanska cesta Road towards Šmartno ob Savi.

The “Condemned Child Murderess” Ballad Path

In addition to the aforementioned, we know “The Condemned Child Murderess” ballad path, which was created so we could follow the fate of the child murderess through the stations on the streets of present-day Ljubljana as recorded in the song, which would transport us back to the 18th century when this real event took place.

The article The Folk Ballad of the Infanticide: Slovenian and Gottscheer Versions was created as part of the project The Weight of the past. Heritage of the Multicultural Area: Case Study of Gottschee , which was financially supported by the Slovenian Research Agency.

Previous post: Reflection of the Aristocratic World in the Gottscheer Folk Song Tradition.

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They often reflect the setting of the nobility, which can be observed in the social position of the protagonists, their behaviour, the social norms that prevailed among the nobility, or the environment in which the stories take place. They include, for example, stories about the conscription of men for war or their homecoming, emphasising the role of the knight, the defender of the land. The song Daisy (Marjetica), published in the Hauffen collection under No. 71, proves this by mentioning pointed shoes, as pointed shoes were a distinct medieval sign of prestige. The mention of pointed or beaked shoes also indicates that the song was written before the settlers colonised the Kočevska Region.

Reflection of the Aristocratic World in the Folk Song A Girl and a Nobleman’s Son

The life of the upper classes is also evidenced in the folk songs describing the everyday life of the social groups that enabled the nobility to live their lifestyle. The folk song A Girl and a Nobleman’s Son, published in Hauffen’s collection under No. 78, directly depicts some traits that are very different from the everyday life of the Gottscheers in their new environment. The rich backgrounds of the boy and girl are evident in the song: the boy is the son of a nobleman, but the girl’s father who tries to trifle with the young nobleman is also wealthy. A number of forest and field workers work for him; the labour is differentiated between them, which shows the strength of the upper classes from which the girl comes. The song not only expresses that the main protagonists belong to the higher social strata, but it also refers to a chore that was carried out in a different way in Slovenia than in the Gottscheer folk song: i.e. in the song, the hay is raked by men, not by women, as was the general custom in Slovenia. The Slovene language does not have a term for a man who rakes hay; we only know the term for “female raker” (slv. grabljica).

Coloured Shoes

As well as the narrative folk songs, distinct prestigious goods are also included in some of the ritual folk songs, such as the song “Handsome Andrle” (Hauffen, No. 119), in which the fair from its original setting, associated with prestigious offerings, is replaced by the Ljubljana Fair. Belonging to the highest social classes is even more distinctively expressed in the ritual folk song The Bride’s Farewell (Hauffen, No. 106), with which the bride bids farewell to her family: the folk song contains, among other things, a couplet referencing part of the bride’s attire, the coloured shoes. These coloured shoes could only be brocade shoes, which expressed the highest social status.

Where does the reflection of the noble world come from?

The theme of life in the upper social circles would not otherwise have attracted attention if it had been consistent with the living conditions of the Gottscheers: i.e. they lived in modest conditions in their new surroundings and there was not a single noble country estate in the area, apart from Friedrichstein Castle and the manor house. The Poljane and Kostel Castles were located outside the environs of the Gottscheer villages. Hence, the environment in which the settlers in the Kočevska Region lived did not allow any direct observation of the life of the castle lords. The story of the forbidden love between Veronika of Desenice and Frederick II, Count of Celje, connected with the Friedrichstein Castle, did not pass into the tradition of the Gottscheers either.

The settlers in the Kočevska Region lived in a highly closed-off community. In centuries past, women did not leave their poverty-stricken hill villages and preserved their folk traditions as they offered important solace when separated from their husbands. Mainly, they preserved the traditions that the Gottscheer people brought with them. The pilgrimages that the Gottscheer people took part in were also accompanied by devotional and legendary folk songs, but not by other narrative or ritual folk songs.

Folk Song Heritage as Evidence of Immigration from Franconia and Thuringia?

The folk songs of the Gottscheers are, therefore, an expression of prosperity preserved in the remembrance of a time that helped them survive in a new environment. This finding has opened up an important aspect of the treatment of the Gottscheer tradition and the search for an explanation has led to a rethinking of the original environment of the Gottscheers and the reasons for their immigration to the Kočevska Region. This reflection has revealed new historical links with the economically and socially important environment of Franconia and Thuringia, and, with the renewed discussion of the validity of Bishop Hren’s written record, has also shed light on the reasons for the immigration of the Gottscheers to their new surroundings. These reasons underline the importance of honour and loyalty and will be included, together with extensive analysis and new insights, in one of the studies that will be brought out in the Slovenian translation of Hauffen’s opus. The book “The Folk Song Tradition of Kočevska Region” will be published in November 2024 by the ZRC Publishing House.

Sources:

• Hauffen, Adolf. 1895. Lieder . Graz: K. k. Universitäts-Buchdrückerei und Verlags-Buchhandlung ‘Styria’.
• Knific, Bojan. 2020. Obutvena dediščina na Slovenskem: O škornjih, čevljih, coklah, opankah, copatah in drugih obuvalih. Tržič: Tržiški muzej.
• Lackner-Kundegraber, Marija. 1995. Etnografske posebnosti v nekdanjem Kočevskem nemškem jezikovnem otoku. Kronika 43/3: 76–84.
• Marolt, France. 1939. Slovenske prvine v kočevski ljudski pesmi. V: Kočevski zbornik. Razprave o Kočevski in njenih ljudeh. Ljubljana: Vodstvo družbe sv. Cirila in Metoda v Ljubljani, 179–320.
• Stopar, Ivan. 1986. Gradovi na Slovenskem. Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba.

Članek Odsev plemiškega sveta v kočevarskem pesemskem izročilu je nastal v okviru projekta Teža preteklosti. Dediščina večkulturnega območja: primer Kočevske , which was financially supported by the Slovenian Research Agency.

Prejšnja objava: Kaj dela Micika v püngradi na Kočevskem? – Pesmi Prekmurcev na Kočevskem .

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Folk Song Material in the Archive of the Institute of Ethnomusicology of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts

As part of the research project Teža preteklosti. Dediščina večkulturnega območja: primer Kočevske we also paid more attention to the material collected by colleagues of the Institute of Ethnomusicology ZRC SAZU during the 90-year history of the Institute (which is celebrating its round anniversary this year), or even older material that the Institute holds as the central institution for folk music, song and dance in Slovenia. At first, we seemed to have almost no material for the period prior to World War II, but a closer examination of the archives showed that this was not the case. The material collected specifically by the Institute’s staff is not very extensive, but thanks to cooperation with related institutions in Austria and Germany, the Institute keeps copies of material stored in other countries. Folk songs were recorded in the Kočevska region at a time when Slovenia was still part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

Recordings in the Kočevska Region

But back to the surprises. After World War II, in 1953 to be precise, the Institute started sound recordings. This means that they visited people and recorded their singing. Several of these recordings took place in the Kočevsko Region. In 1992, mag. Igor Cvetko recorded a group of singers in Kočevska Reka, who sang the following songs for him: Tam dol na ravnem polju (Down in the Level Field), Preozke so stezice (The Trails are too Narrow), Ko psi zalajajo po celi vas na glas (When the Dogs’ Loud Barking is Heard All Over the Village), Fantič pride pod okence stat (The Boy Comes to Stand Under the Window), Sijaj mi sončece (Shine On My Sunshine), Duša le pojdi zmanoj (Sweet Soul Just Go with Me), Ênglaš valcer (English Waltz) (accordion), Ta stara polka (That Old Polka) (accordion), Se spominjaš davnih časov (Do You Still Remember the Old Days) (accordion), Moje dekle je še mlado, ja, ja (My Girl is Still Young, Oh Yeah), Sinoči je pela (Last Night She Sang), En hribček bom kupil (One Little Hill I’ll Buy), Grêmo na Štajersko (Let’s Wander Off to Štajerska), Ko so fantje proti vasi šli (When the Boys Went to the Village), Moj očka ima konjička dva (My Daddy Has Two Little Horses), Moj fantič je na t(i)rolsko vandral (My Little Boy Went to the Tyrol), Al me boš kaj rada imela (Think You’ll Love Me), Ko so Adáma pokopal (When They Buried Adám), Soča voda je šumela (The Waters of the Soča Murmured), Micika v püngradi (Micika in Püngradi), Rozamunda (Rosamunda) (accordion), Ena starinska (Ye’ Old Song) (accordion).

Pesem Micika v püngradi: Folk Songs of the Prekmurje Region in Kočevska Region

Püngrad is the Prekmurje word for garden. In the folk song, Micika is in the garden picking flowers and talking to her sweetheart.

The song from the Micika v püngradi recording is sung by a woman and a man in a beautiful (authentic) Prekmurje dialect. They moved to the Kočevska region in 1954 from Prekmurje, namely from two different places. The resettlement of inhabitants of Prekmurje to villages in the Kočevska region that had been emptied during World War II is well known and documented. However, it seems that it is only when we hear this song sung in a dialect from the opposite end of Slovenia that we become aware of their presence. I presented the sound recording of this song at a panel organised as part of the above-mentioned project in Ljubljana in March 2024. It was also attended by two local women from the Kočevska area, descendants of the Gottscheers. Their reaction when they heard the first verses of the song piqued my interest, because it was completely foreign to them. Although they are well acquainted with the history of the area, are involved in the local life and actively participate in cultural associations, they were still surprised by this song. In fact, the song is a beautiful example of how fluid tradition actually is and how folk songs are transferred from one place to another. The case is also of interest to researchers working on the theory of heritage, its formation and change.

Article How Did Micika v püngradi come to the Kočevska Region? – Folk Songs of the Prekmurje Region in Kočevska Region

is part of the project Teža preteklosti. Dediščina večkulturnega območja: primer Kočevske , which was financially supported by the Slovenian Research Agency.

Our previous post: Cemetery in Stari Log.

The post How Did Micika v püngradi come to the Kočevska Region? – Folk Songs of the Prekmurje Region in Kočevska Region<br><br> appeared first on Gottscheer blog.

The inter-war fate of the village of Stari Log

The idyllic forest-bound village of Stari Log was the largest village in Kočevska area before the World War II. Until the World War II, it was the seat of the municipality, the seat of the parish; there was a school, a cemetery, a gendarmerie station, taverns and shops. The war did not spare Stari Log that was caught up in the maelstrom of war. After the resettlement of the Gottscheer people in 1941, only two Gottscheer families remained in the village. To prevent the establishment of an Italian outpost, the village was burnt down by the partisans in 1942, and the Italian army deported women, children and the elderly from Stari Log and the surrounding area to concentration camps, while 74 men were shot.

Cemetery in Stari Log

Initially, the cemetery in Stari Log was located next to the St. Margaret’s Parish Church. In 1853, it became too small, therefore they started burying the deceased southeast of the village, on the site of present-day cemetery. Today, graves of Gottscheers – the indigenous inhabitants are preserved in one part of the cemetery, while another, where burials are still carried out, contains the graves of post-war immigrants, and in the third part is located the tomb of 74 partisans and hostages who were shot by the Italian army in August 1942. There remain 11 tombstones from the 19th century, the rest are more recent. Nine bear the signature of the monumental stonemason A. Plesche.

Different memories permeate Stari Log

After the World War II, the cemetery in Stari Log became a transnational memorial site – a monument to the events that marked the tumultuous history of Kočevska area. Near the entrance to the cemetery, the visitor first sees the monument “in memory of all deceased Gottscheers”, erected in 1997 – a square obelisk with a pyramidal structure at the top and a dedication inscription in Slovene, German, English and Göttscheabarisch. It was set up by organisations from Slovenia and abroad, with the participation of local societies and local communities.

In 1960, a communal grave was constructed for the killed hostages. In addition to the tomb, there is an obelisk and white marble tombstones on an area of about 1000 m².

Less than a decade before that, in 1951, the Slovene Writers’ Association had erected a memorial or a symbolic grave to the poet, writer and puppeteer Miran Jarc. He was shot near the village of Pugled near Stari Log, but the location of his grave remains unknown. In 2002, the monument was modernised by the Association for the Conservation of Partisan Graves in Rog (Hornwald).

For many years, the cemetery in Stari Log had no cemetery crucifix. In August 2023, the villagers of Stari Log symbolically restored a cast-iron cross from one of the pre-war Gottscheer graves and placed it as a cemetery crucifix on the left edge of the cemetery, next to the cemetery walls.

Restoration of tombstones in Stari Log cemetery

The cemetery in Stari Log was built in 1997 by the Stara Cerkev Local Community with the help of Gottscheer organisations. The 45 preserved Gottscheer stone tombstones underwent a basic conservation in 2002, but many of them have been damaged by weather, subsidence and deterioration of the materials.

The Putscherle Institute, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage in Kočevsko area, has therefore initiated a more complex restoration of the six most damaged tombstones in 2023, under the direction of Dr Anja Moric. The restoration work is being carried out by the Erjavec Stonemasonry Services from Mahovnik in accordance with the instructions of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Slovenia, and the restoration is financed by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the Municipality of Kočevje. The work on each tombstone includes foundation stabilisation (by concreting), removal of moss and mould, restoration of the inscriptions and, where possible, restoration of the photographs in ceramic frames, construction of missing parts of the monuments, such as crosses, ornaments, etc. In the coming years, the Putscherle Institute plans to gradually restore several additional Gottscheer tombstones.

Sources:
– Resman, Blaž in Seražin, Helena. 2010. Upravna enota Kočevje: občine Kočevje, Kostel in Osilnica. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC.
– Stari Log – spominsko obeležje Tomšičeve brigade. Dostopno na: http://www.zb-kocevje.si/starilog_britof.htm
– Šmajdek, Primož. 2012. Stari Log pri Kočevju – Pokopališče. Dostopno na: http://spomeniki.blogspot.com/2012/12/stari-log-pri-kocevju-pokopalisce.html
– Šuštar, Branko. 2006. Zgodba z nagrobnika prvega učitelja na šoli Smuka/Langenthon na Kočevskem okoli leta 1888. Kronika (Ljubljana), letnik 55, številka 3, str. 405-428.

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The beginnings of mining in Kočevska area

Mining in Kočevska area dates back to the first years of the 19th century. In September 1803, Prince Karl Wilhelm Auersperg was the first to obtain a mine prospecting licence for lignite in the area where Trata is today and opened the “Wilhelm’s Excavation Site”. The prince did not persist with the excavation for long, because the volume of excavated material was modest and the mineral ore did not prove useful in the iron industry, which he fostered as the owner of the ironworks operating in Dvor near Žužemberk. After a long period without mining activity in the area, in 1820 the mining rights were granted to Ivan Röthel, an inhabitant of Kočevje, who opened the “St. John” excavation site. Although the volume of excavated coal was not abundant, he exploited it for industrial purposes, for his brickworks. It was the first plant in Kočevje to introduce lignite into the production process.

Later, coal was mined in Kočevje by some wealthy townspeople, and the most prominent was the Viennese Razinger family, which was involved in glassmaking. Brothers Anton, Nikolaj and Franc immigrated to Kočevje in 1849 and two years later received the prospecting right. The success of the glassworks led to more and more coal being mined to meet production needs. In 1859, seven additional 7 mining site measurements (7×4,5 ha) were granted with 150 miners working there. As intensive mining required increasing investments, the Razinger family became over-indebted and gradually went bankrupt.

Kočevje Coal Mine: prosperity under Trbovlje ownership

At the end of the 19th century, the Trbovlje Coal Mining Company took over ownership of the coal mine and started investing in it. A brickworks, lime kiln, separation plant, heating plant, machine shop, central workshop, sawmill and a steam engine with an electric generator were built. In September 1893, Kočevje officially opened a railway line to Ljubljana for the transport of lignite, and the first train operations had already commenced on this route two months earlier. The “Iron Road” enabled the Kočevje Mine to break into the international market and fostered industrial development of the town of Kočevje. The coal mine became the largest industrial plant in the Kočevska region, and its operation also brought the first electrification to the town. In 1919, a water pipeline was built from the Rinža River to the mine with an electric pump.

Mining continued uninterrupted during the World War I, but after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the Kočevje mine’s operations declined. The railways were nationalised, and the coal supplies were significantly reduced. The Trbovlje Coal Mining Company cut investments and consequently a large number of workers were let go. In 1919, around 1.200 miners were employed, but in 1930 only around 100 still worked there.

Kočevje miners’ revolt

During the World War II, a field committee of the Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation was organised in the Kočevje mine. Kočevje miners went to the partisans in large numbers and also carried out various acts of sabotage, delivering material and food to the partisans through the mine. Because miners left to fight in the war, there was a marked decline in mining activity. The Italians arrested many of the miners from Kočevje, some of whom were deported to a concentration camp in Padua. The mine administration sent food parcels to the internees. During the Italian occupation, the mine was fenced off with wire. In December 1943, the Partisans destroyed most of the mining installations. As there was no electricity for pumping, the pit was flooded with water, making it impossible for the occupying forces to extract the coal.

After the end of World War II, the Trbovlje Coal Mining Company became state-owned. The mine was first renamed to Kočevje Mine and then to Kočevje Lignite Mine. Restoration work began, but destroyed equipment and unskilled miners hindered the re-establishment of production. The operation of the mine was essential for the economy of Kočevje, therefore the miners were exempted from compulsory military service. Due to a shortage of local labour, miner workers from Dry Carniola, Central Sava Valley, and Slovene Littoral and Prekmurje Regions were recruited. In August 1950, the Workers’ Council took over the management of the mine, abandoning production on the open-pit mine and retaining only pit mining. In 1961, a new separation plant was opened, which improved the quality of the coal, and production began to rise sharply in the following years.

Merger with ITAS and mine closure

In 1970, lignite production exceeded 200,000 tonnes. The miners were well paid for their successful work, and their income was among the highest in the municipality. Although the Kočevje Mine rose to the top of the Yugoslav coal mines during this period, coal reserves gradually declined. The administration decided to switch production in order to retrain the miners. The production programme of the fast-growing ITAS company allowed for a relatively simple and quick retraining, and a referendum on the merger of the company and the mine was successfully held in May 1971. After approval by the two Workers’ Councils, the mine was formally incorporated within ITAS in March 1972. Although the mine had been scheduled for closure four years earlier, the energy crisis meant that mining continued until 28 February 1978. This finally marked the last day of the turbulent history of the Kočevje Coal Mine.

Kočevje Coal Mine today

Today, Kočevje’s mining past is still reflected in the infrastructure from that period. The most famous remnant is certainly the increasingly popular Rudnik Lake. The abandoned buildings of the mine separation plant and the former mining colony are further reminders of the history of the mine workers. But there there is also another illustrative reminder, namely the names of local settlements, such as Rudarsko naselje (Mining settlement) and Rudnik (Mine). The areas of Trata are marked with Roman numerals from I onwards, according to the site measurements, which were measured and staked out in 1849. Also worth mentioning is the railway line to the capital, which was after many decades re-established as a regular line in January 2021.

Viri:
Jerbič Perko, Vesna. 2005. Rudnik rjavega premoga Kočevje. Kočevje: Pokrajinski muzej.
Rustja, Karel. 2015. 120 let kočevske železnice. Kočevje: Pokrajinski muzej.
Zupan, Janko. 1963. Rudarji ob 20-letnici kočevskega zbora. Kočevje: Kočevski tisk.

Read how retired miner Franc Volf remembers miners life in Kočevje here.

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Občice through time

The name Občice is said to originate from the name of the shared communal land, and is indicative of the original Slavic settlement. According to the description provided by Mitja Ferenc and Gojko Zupan, before the World War II the village predominantly engaged in modest agriculture, cattle breeding and fruit growing (there were mainly apple orchards). Ancillary activities included bee-keeping, viticulture, forestry and cattle yoking. Občice are first mentioned in 1564 in the so-called rent-roll contribution register. The largest number of inhabitants lived there in 1869, i.e. 129 people in 24 houses. In Občice, Gottscheerisch Khrapflern, the Gottscheer dialect was spoken until the World War II, as elsewhere in Kočevska area.

According to the testimony of villager Justina Rabzelj in Marija Makarovič’s Črmošnjiško-Poljanska dolina in njeni ljudje (Moschnitze Valley and its people), during the World War II, in the face of German propaganda, many of the villagers of Občice decided to move to the Reich: “On St Nicholas’ Eve in 1941, Občice remained empty. Except for ours, all the other Gottscheer families had moved out. Only our family remained in the abandoned village. /…/ All my father said was that the villagers came to say goodbye before they left.” (Marija Makarovič: 2005, 484)

Thus, in Občice, where for six centuries the Gottscheer language was part of everyday life, it almost disappeared after the war. Since then, Mrs Justina and other children, such as her brother Albin Samida, learned Slovenian instead of German in primary school.

Protected architectural heritage

Justina and Albin Samida were born on Kulparš’s farm, which was then taken over by his sister, her nephew and his family. The house (Gott. hauš), originally number 5 and now number 1, can be seen in the following photo (first from the right).

The Immovable Cultural Heritage Register of the Republic of Slovenia contains brief descriptions of three houses in Občice, namely houses with numbers 4, 6 and 7. The house located at the address Občice 4 is a top-stable house dating from the second half of the 19th century. It is partly dug into the slope and has a converted black (open-hearth) kitchen. House No. 6 is a type of a top stable house from the first half of the 19th century. During 1944 and 1945, it was the headquarters of the TV-15 relay station command, from where partisan courier connections ran throughout Slovenia (there are also two commemorative plaques on the house). House No. 7 is a small farmer’s ground-floor house, built at the beginning of the 19th century. The inscription of the year 1891 is still visible on the west gable-end of the façade.

Also worth mentioning is the restored farmhouse located at the address Občice 9, where the Society of Native Gottschee Settlers has its headquarters and museum room. Founded in 1992 in Kočevske Poljane, the society is primarily concerned with the promotion of Gottscheer culture through folklore activities, bringing together both Gottscheers who have remained in their homeland and their supporters.

Opportunities for tourism development in Občice

For the first time, I walked through Občice focusing on my feelings or rather my first impression. Wooden windows, blue inscription of 1891 with painted decoration that romantically coincides with the meadow wafting with the fragrance of blue flowers. The ornate façade of the house No. 2, the memorial plaque on the house No. 6, etc. A village which – to refer again to Bachelard’s idea of old houses – testifies to a cluster of houses fortified through ordeal and experience.

It is a rarity to find architectural heritage in the wider Kočevska region preserved to such an extent. Therefore, it is particularly important to provide proper assessment and to define its vision through appropriate expert guidance. When renovating houses and assigning them new designated function, it is particularly important to work with the local environment and residents. The renovated houses could enrich the efforts of the Society of Native Gottschee Settlers to revive the Gottscheer heritage in the Moschnitze Valley. For example, in terms of offering new tourist accommodation that could offer visitors, especially those from abroad, a place to stay in the ambient of their ancestral life. This personalised tourist experience is just one of the possibilities for the development of the municipality and the surrounding area. In this way, they could be instilled with new life and avoid the foreboding sensation that, like most pre-war Gottscheer villages, the last train of silent admiration is approaching.

Sources:
– Bachelard, Gaston. 2001. Poetika prostora. Ljubljana: Študentska založba.
– Society of Native Gottschee Settlers: https://www.dolenjske-toplice.si/objava/73894.
– Ferenc, Mitja in Gojko Zupan. 2013. Po sledeh Kočevarjev v Črmošnjiško-Poljanski dolini / Auf den Spuren der Gottscheer in der Moschnitze. Dolenjske Toplice: Društvo Kočevarjev staroselcev.
– Makarovič, Marija. 2005. Črmošnjiško-Poljanska dolina in njeni ljudje. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU.
– The National Register of Cultural Heritage: https://geohub.gov.si/portal/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=d6641ae60c0c47e9b027319f4f0f73

Read more about the new arrangement of the ethnological collection of the native Gottscheer people in Občice here.

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The retired Kočevje miner recalls that the coal mine held a great significance to the town of Kočevje and Kočevska region in general during the time he worked there. The mine provided livelihood for many families and the mining profession was held in high esteem.

“The mine was undoubtedly of crucial importance for the entire Kočevska region, not just for the town of Kočevje. To be perfectly honest, the then Kočevje practically “grew” from the mine. In industrial and economic terms, everything revolved around the mine. At that time, there was also a large Tekstilana factory that mainly provided employment for our wives, and LIK, another important company. But there is no doubt that the mine was in all respects the main driver of development in the town and its wider surroundings.”

The love of mining outweighed the difficult work

The following recollections of the retired miner from Kočevje best illustrate very strenuous and dangerous work in the mine:

“I got up at 5am because we started work at 6am. I was lucky to live near the mine. Before entering the mine, you had to change into mining work clothes. We miners were often wet because there was lots of water in the pits. We had to dry our clothes by the next day. There was a load of work, but it was also well paid. Because there were so few of us in the pits, we could not be “slacking”. We had to work a lot and hard. It was also dangerous. It is well known that a mine that is closing is the most dangerous for miners. There were times when the pressure around us was so intense that the mineral deposit collapsed before our eyes.”

Although the daily work in the coal mine was hard, he loved it. “We also worked on Saturdays and Sundays, there were practically no days off. We always had to be 100% present with our body and mind. Fortunately, I was young and was fit enough to withstand all the strains. It was also quite helpful that I led a healthy life, and didn’t drink alcohol or smoke, which was unlike many of my mining colleagues. In a way, working in the mine was like being married – we mine workers were a bit smitten with the mine. After the mine closed, I went to work at ITAS with a very heavy heart. When the coal mine ceased operations, it must have been us, the miners, who suffered the worst. We really loved this job, so it was really difficult to leave the mine behind.”

Not only colleagues, but also friends

As Franc Volf points out, the Kočevje miners were not only colleagues, but also true friends. Together, they spent many hours working in the mine and many afternoons socialising during leisure activities.

“We liked to spend time together. Mine workers are a special kind of people, so we stuck together a lot. In those days, there were still trade union trips or excursions. Mine workers from all over Slovenia met often. For example, people from Kočevje went to Trbovlje, Zagorje or Hrastnik, and they visited us. We visited each other, got to know each other and had a good time. We were friends. I don’t know if workers in any other line of business shared such a strong bond. We had quite a few friends in Trbovlje in particular, as Trbovlje was considered a kind of Slovenian mining centre at that time.”

There were many amusing anecdotes, and heavy tragedies as well

Despite the difficult working conditions and physically demanding working hours, the friendly relationships between the miners brought about many interesting stories. Franc Volf remembers particularly well an anecdote where older miners liked to “play a trick” on their younger colleagues.

“When a young miner came to work in the mine, the older miners would send him to the ventilating assembly, which was always running, saying that the electric connection was there. Not knowing this, the newcomers headed there, and when they arrived, they immediately rushed back to where they came from, because there was no oxygen up there. We also talked about the notorious Perkmandeljc, and we scared the young miners that he was watching us from above. These jokes could be cruel, and some colleagues were completely petrified. In the ten years I worked in the mine, there was plenty of such events.”

Unfortunately, his time in the Kočevje mine was also marked by two tragedies, which he still remembers vividly to this day.

“We have had two fatal accidents when the shaft caved in on two of our miners. Vinko Kotar and Jože Lipovec lost their lives in work accidents. Having also worked as a mine rescue worker, I have been personally involved in both tragedies. Both of them remained stuck in the shaft for about 14 to 20 days because we simply were not able to get to them before that. They were caught where the Mine Lake is today. At that time, there were two other lakes, and we faced a high risk of ingress of silt – that is, a mixture of water, mud and clay. So we had to break through to them from a completely opposite side. We miners always greeted each other with “good luck”, and we meant it literally, because we never knew what awaited us in the mine. We were always with one foot in the ‘afterworld’.”

Only a handful of miners are still alive today

Once a year, Kočevje miners meet on their special day, the Miner’s Day. Miners’ Day, which is commemorated on 3 July, is celebrated every year at the Kočevje Regional Museum, where a social event is organised to reminisce about miners’ lives. With the exception of this organised gathering of former mining comrades, the few who are still alive, according to Franc Volf, rarely see each other due to old age and illness.

“Unfortunately, there are very, very few of us left. I can count my Kočevje mining colleagues who are still alive today on the fingers of one hand. And those who are still with us are already very old and in poor health. I was one of the youngest miners at the time, but most of my peers have already passed away. In fact, all those miners who lived less healthy lives, who smoked, drank alcohol, etc., have passed away long time ago. Fortunately, what has kept me going, apart from a healthy lifestyle, is that I often hike in the woods where I hunt and pick mushrooms.”

Source: interview with retired Kočevje miner Franco Volf, conducted on 14 November 2023. 11. 2023.

In the previous post, read:Student project for the Gottscheer ethnological exhibition in Občice.

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