Events 2024

At the end of this week, two important exhibitions related to World War I in the Soča region and the inhabitants of this region were open in Vienna and in the immediate vicinity of Bruck an der Leitha.

 Since November 3rd, the exhibition by the Tolmin Museum entitled Memorial Church of the Holy Spirit in Javorca – One hundred years of the Basilica of Peace is on display in the Museum of Military History in Vienna. In September, this exhibition was first put on display in the Tolmin Museum as the result of research done by the Director of this museum, Mrs. Damjana Fortunat Černilogar, M.Sc. With the help of the grandchildren of the architect of the church Remigius Geyling, she researched the inheritance of this architect in Vienna and discovered numerous previously unknown sources that shed further light on the circumstances under which the church was designed, planned and constructed one hundred years ago on a rising ground in the Tolminka Valley in only 184 days. The opening of the exhibition was presented by the author herself and among others attended by the Slovenian Minister of Defence, Mrs. Andreja Katič, Austrian Minister of Defence, Mr. Hans Peter Doskozil M.Sc., Slovenian Ambassador to Austria, Mr. Andrej Rahten Ph.D., Mayor of the Municipality of Tolmin, Mr. Uroš Brežan and the Director of the Museum, Mr. Mario Christian Ortner Ph.D. In his address, the Mayor of the Municipality of Tolmin, Mr. Brežan, in particular highlighted the exceptional nature of this monument which was, in its one hundred year history, taken care of and renovated by four different countries because they all recognized the common value which this monument promotes – peace. He also invited the attendants to visit the memorial church in Javorca which is located in an idyllic natural environment of the Triglav National Park and the Julian Alps. The opening of the exhibition, which was attended by numerous visitors and representatives of the media because of the distinguished institution it was displayed in and because of the numerous eminent guests, was used by the Municipality of Tolmin and the Local Tourist Organization Sotočje for tourist and culinary presentation of the municipality, the Soča Valley and the Goriška Brda Region.

One day later, on November 4, the Slovenian Embassy in Austria and the Municipality of Bruck an der Leitha opened the exhibition about a former refugee camp in this town, only 40 km from VIenna. Bruck an der Leitha is located next to the Austrian national border with Hungary and Slovakia where a large refugee camp was established during World War I. Between 1915 and 1918, there were approximately 5,000 refugees from Slovenia and especially the Soča Valley living in this camp, which is why this place also received a Slovenian name Bruck na Litvi even though it is located in the immediate vicinity of Vienna. At the place where barracks with refugees used to stand you can find a memorial in memory of 483 refugees from the municipalities in the Soča Valley who lost their lives here. Representatives of Austria and the Republic of Slovenia laid wreaths to the memorial, whilst the singers of the Simon Gregorčič Octet prepared a short programme. Besides the eminent representatives of Austria and the Republic of Slovenia, who already attended the opening of the Javorca exhibition in Vienna, the opening of the exhibition in the city hall was also attended by the President of the Lower-Austria Regional Parliament, Mr. Erwin Pröll Ph.D. The exhibition presents the construction and particularly the life of refugees in the camp. The displayed registry of births and deaths which the refugees kept shows that there were a lot of refugees from the villages in the immediate vicinity of Tolmin living in this camp.

Source: Municipality of Tolmin, www.tolmin.si