The Alpine culture of Slovenia

UNESCO Courier, Feb, 1987 by Matjaz Kmecl

An episode from recent history mayhelp to explain how such a small people has managed to survive without losing its identity and its language. The Slovenes gave proof of their tenacity during the Second World War when they mobilized an army of partisans in their mountain fastnesses and maintained a backbone of national institutions. Then in 1945 the Republic of Slovenia was created within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. As the emblem of their country the Slovenes chose their highest mountain, Mount Triglav (almost 2,900 metres high), "the three heads' which has nourished a host of their legends and beliefs since they became an Alpine people almost 1,500 years ago.

One of the last massifs in the easternAlps, Mount Triglav is the sacred mountain of the Slovenes; one of its heads looks to heaven, another to earth and the third to the underworld.

Photo: Above, Yugoslavia's highest peak, MountTriglav (2,864 m) dominates a popular mountaineering and winter sports region of the Julian Alps in Slovenia. The sacred mountain of the Slovenes, Mt. Triglav ("the three heads') is also a pilgrimage centre. In the words of the Slovene writer Julius Kugy, "Triglave is not a mountain but a kingdom.'

Photo: Above, Ansicht von Arco (1495, "The ArcoValley'), watercolour and ink by the German Renaissance artist Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), who visited Italy for the first time in 1494. He remained until the following spring and painted a number of watercolours of the Alps of the southern Tirol, which rank among his most beautiful works.

Photo: Below, Paysage a Maloja (Piz Margna)(1924, "Maloja Landscape [Margna Peak]'), oil on canvas by the Swiss sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966). The Maloja Pass in the Swiss Alps, at Borgonovo, where Giacometti was born, is near the village of Stampa (canton of Graubunden). The artist, who settled in Paris in 1922, often returned to his birthplace in later life.

Photo: Centre pages: (1) Cross-country skiingrace at Autrans (France). (2) Vineyards in Liechtenstein, a tiny European principality (160 km2) in the rugged foothills of the Central Alps, with a population of 27,200 (1984). The mild climate, affected by the warm southerly Foehn wind, permits cultivation of grapes, unusual in such a mountainous area. (3) Haymaking in the traditional style in Valle di Gardena, northern Italy. (4) View of Hallstatt, near Salzburg. This little Austrian town, whose salt mines have been worked continually since 2500 B.C., gave its name to the first main period of the European Iron Age. In 1846 a vast ancient burial ground was discovered at Hallstatt, excavations over the next half century yielding a mass of finds of major archaeological importance, including bronze and iron objects remarkably well preserved by the salt. (5) Grenoble (France) is the major Alpine city. Its numerous industries include the manufacture of plastics, rubber, cement and paper. A centre for nuclear research and electronics, Grenoble hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 1968. (6) The Nosslach Bridge on the highway across the Brenner Pass, one of the lowest (1,371 m) and most important passes through the main chain of the Alps on the Austrian-Italian border. (7) The Mont Blanc massif, crowned by the highest peak (4,807 m) in western Europe, lies along the French/Italian border. It owes its name ("White Mountain') to the 100 km2 of glaciers which cover its slopes. (8) Ranks of ripening Gruyere cheeses. A hard cow's-milk cheese, Gruyere takes its name from the region of La Gruyere in southern Switzerland. The wheel-shaped cheeses are aged for at least 3 to 6 months, although some may be allowed to ripen for a year or more.