Gorenjska Museum

Founded in 1963, the Gorenjska Museum in Kranj collects, houses, researches, and represents the movable cultural heritage of the wider Gorenjska (Upper Carniola) region. It supports the formation and maintenance of regional and local identities and seeks to serve as an inspiration for people in finding solutions to contemporary cultural issues.

History

The idea of establishing a museum in Kranj was born before World War I. In 1953 the Municipal Museum of Kranj was founded and had its seat in Prešeren House, the former residence of Slovene poet France Prešeren. In 1957 a second museum was established in Kranj: the Gorenjska Regional Museum, which was renamed to the Museum of the People's Revolution in 1961. The Gorenjska Museum was established in 1963 by the merging of the Municipal Museum of Kranj and the Kranj Museum of the People's Revolution. The following locations in Kranj were assigned to the new museum: Town Hall on Glavni trg (Main Square), Prešeren House, and a Baroque Palace on the street Tavčarjeva ulica. In 1993 the Baroque Palace was returned to its original owners. The Gorenjska Museum acquired new spaces in the Khislstein Castle, where its headquarters, administrative and service spaces were located until 2008, when the museum moved to a new location on Savska cesta, Kranj. Today the castle accommodates Beautiful Gorenjska, the museum's main permanent exhibition.

Programme and mission

The mission of the Gorenjska Museum has been built on the basis of fundamental collections, such as the archaeological and ethnological collections of folk art and ancient, cultural and modern art history, as well as modernity, a Cabinet of Slovene Photography, the creative art of Gorenjska and "Prešereniana" – the study of the work and life of France Prešeren. The museum's collections and work are presented through exhibitions, publications, workshops, study circles, and lectures. The museum provides a meeting place for people who are interested in discovering the common elements that connect Slovenes to other nations and cultures as well as appreciating the treasures of Slovene cultural heritage that are completely unique.

From the outset Gorenjska Museum has taken a keen interest in contemporary art and events in Gorenjska, which are continuously reflected in its gallery activities. The museum is also an active publisher, especially of the cycle Gorenjski kraji in ljudje [Places and People of Gorenjska].

The museum's academic library is a valuable research facility for many in-house and external scholars and interested parties, as it covers all the areas of the museum.

Branches

Today in addition to the Prešeren House the Gorenjska Museum also oversees the Kranj Town Hall, Khislstein Castle, Kranj Archaeological Site, the Museum of Alpine Dairy Farming, Stara Fužina, Oplen House, and the Tomaž Godec Museum. All the major museum branches are represented in the museum, along with a series of auxiliary services (a restoration and conservation workshop, historical archives, a photo-laboratory, a picture library, and a library).

Oplen House 2015

Departments and collections

There are multiple collections in the main and branch units of the museum, divided and arranged according to the policy of each museum department. The Ethnological Department currently consists of 7,800 inventoried items, its notable collections include those of embroidery, wraps, and horse hair sieves. The Ancient History Department contains artefacts dating from the 18th, 19th, and the beginning of the 20th centuries. The Present History Department gathers and maintains materials showing events and life in the Gorenjska region over the last century, while the Recent History Department focuses more on the 21st century. There is also the Archaeological Department which participates in numerous digs in the region and has organised the permanent exhibition The Iron Thread in the Kranj Town Hall. The Art History Department's collection encompasses numerous sculptures and paintings by masters of the 15th through the 18th centuries, as well as works by Leopold Layer (1752–1828) and his contemporaries, and the realists of the 19th Century. The collection of Slovenian Modern Art is also extensive and includes works by Gorenjska artists and by the recipients of the Prešeren Award. Finally, the Cultural History Department and its collection focuses primarily on the Prešeren House.

In addition, twenty years ago after the completion of excavations at the Kranj Parish Church an archaeological monument was arranged in which the visible remnants of the late Roman octagonal baptistery. Remnants of the late 13th century baptistery and other finds are visible.

Exhibitions

There are numerous permanent and temporary exhibitions related mainly to Gorenjska region topics, held in the main and branch units. In 2009 the exhibition The Future of Banknotes was held in the Kranj Town Hall. Another exhibition dealt with Slovene independence: Ne čujem dobro [I Don't Hear Well]. The new permanent exhibition Beautiful Gorenjska recently opened in the renovated Khislstein Castle.

Projects

The Gorenjska Museum participates in the Iron Route, an Interreg III B project for the Alpine area, which connects different and remote Alpine lands through a common history of mining and iron manufacturing. The 15-year-long archaeological research in the East Julian Alps was conducted in collaboration with the Triglav National Park and the Institute of Archaeology of the Scientific Research Centre (ZRC SAZU), Slovene Academy of Science and Arts. Iron Route reveals the early settlements in the high-mountains from the bronze age to the early middle ages. The in situ display panels were installed on five different trails above 1,500 metres altitude. The discoveries are presented also in a temporary exhibition in the Gorenjska Museum.

Awards

The museum's long-standing (1965–1972) director Cene Avguštin (1923–2010), the first museologist of the Gorenjska region, won the Stele Award in 1999 for his lifetime achievements.

External links

Gorenjska Museum website

Gallery

The first room in the Museum of Alpine Dairy Farming, Stara Fužina presents the interior of an alpine dairy hut with furnishings from the alpine pasture Zajamniki dated from 1849.

The traditional farmers' Majenje turšce taking place every autumn at the Oplen House, 2015

Oplen House 2015

Bohinj 1941–1945 exhibition section at the Tomaž Godec Museum. It features the four dwellers of Bohinj, who during the World War II impersonated different roles: of an an agressor, a partisan, a priest and a prisoner, respectively.

The exhibition section about Bohinj during the World War I at the Tomaž Godec Museum, 2015