Kurnik House

Abstract

From 1698, after one of the many fires which afflicted Tržič, a group of houses was built on the left bank of the Tržiška Bistrica, just below the parish church. These houses included Kurnik House, which has since maintained its late 18th-century appearance. In the early 19th century the building passed to the Kurniks, a family of wheelwrights, and remained theirs until 1967 when the last owner, well-known seamstress and knitter Mici Kurnikova, bequeathed it to Tržič Museum. The house was subsequently renovated, with the interior adapted for use as an auxiliary exhibition space. It opened to the public in 1972, bearing the name of folk poet Vojteh Kurnik (1826-1886).

The masonry-built ground floor has a wooden upper storey and picturesque shingle roof, and inside the layout is that of a typical peasant house from Gorenjska with the specific elements of a craftsman's home. Traditionally the men in the family were wheelwrights and the women stocking knitters. The original wheelwright's workshop of the Kurniks has been completely preserved and is presented in the cellar. The ground floor of the house represents a typical local dwelling and comprises five rooms. To the left is the entrance to the bedroom, to the right the izba, now the poet's memorial room. A wooden landing leads to an open-hearth kitchen with two fire-places. Behind the open-hearth kitchen with preserved vessels and accessories are (left) the entrance to the hiša and (right) a small 'workshop kitchen' with a stone-built stove. An exhibition on the history of the town is located on the upper floor. Since 1977 the museum has used the remainder of the upper floor for occasional and thematic exhibitions.

Kurnik House

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