Koroška Bela
Encyclopedia
Koroška Bela is a settlement in the municipality of Jesenice in northwestern Slovenia
. While its name ("Carinthian White") refers to historic Carinthia
, it has long been located in the Upper Carniola
n region rather than in present-day Slovene Carinthia. The village has long been a center of iron mining and processing
; until recently a majority of its inhabitants were employed in the steel industry.
. The village is located in a valley between four hills: Malnež and Obesenk (to the east), and Alnica and Strana (northwest). The valley is closed off to the north by mount Belščica, part of the Karavanke/Karawanken Alps; to the south it opens into Belsko Field, which borders the river Sava.
On the east side of the village runs the Bela creek, the source of which is below the peak of Belščica, between Potoško and Olipovo hills. In the lower western part ot the village, the border with the neighboring settlement of Javornik
runs parallel to bridges over the Javornik creek, though there is a friendly, long-running quarrel with Javornik over the exact boundary line.
around the year 1000, at approximately the same time as nearby Bled
. Slovenes had settled the surrounding area by the late 10th century, as attested both by archaeological and documentary evidence, notably the land deeds of peasants donating their lands to clergy or nobility, which record Slavic
placenames by this date. During the 11th century, settements in the Bled region included Grad
, Zagorice
, Želeče
, Mlino
, Koritno
, Bodešče
, Selo
, Kupljenik
, Rečica
, Radovna
, Podhom
, Poljšica
, Blejska Dobrava
, Sebenje
, and others.
Some local peasants remained free until after 1100, but gradually all farms in the area came under feudal control. The principal landlord was the see of Brixen, which in the 13th century began converting some of their serfs into semi-freemen, living on so-called "census" farms. During the 13th century, Koroška Bela was among the larger settlements of the Bled lordship; a 1253 urbar (survey-book) lists 15 such farms..
In the second half of the 14th century, the peasants' level of feudal obligation began to grow, with the introductions of the tithe
and of mandatory servitude. High levels of debt began to lead to evictions. In 1515, the peasants of Radovljica
, Bled and Bohinj
revolted unsuccessfully. The leaders of the insurgency were killed, and all participating households were taxed the "rebels' pfennig
" in perpetuity, the financial pressure leading to additional revolts; around 100 minor and four major ones are recorded, as well as civil petitions to the Habsburg
authorities for relief. In 1557, records show that three farmers (Luka Ambrožič, Ambrož Vidič, and Jurij Pretnar) and the village assembly filed a complaint due to harsh duties imposed on them.
The historian Valvasor
briefly mentions Koroška Bela in his 1689 The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola
(under its German name of Karner Velach) as a hamlet below snowy mountains, inhabited by miners and iron ore-teamsters. By this period, local peasants owed the gentry 18 days of servitude a year, including the performance of such tasks as preparing firewood, shoveling snow, cleaning produce, and clearing pastures. One could buy out one's service obligations at a rate of three crowns a day. Circumstances began to improve during the late-18th century, with the reforms of Maria Theresia and Joseph II
, by the reign of the former of which iron ore was being mined above the village, on the slopes of Belščica and on Ajdna
.
On 27 June of 1761, the entire village of 60 houses burned down, including the church. In 1789, torrential rains led to a major landslide
; the hill Cikla slid into the village along the course of the creek Bela, burying 47 houses and many unfortunate residents.
During the late-18th century Franco-Austrian wars
, Habsburg
authorities had difficulties drafting soldiers in the area. Many young unmarried men had instead gone into hiding in the woods; the Austrian governor Indermauer awarded local peasant Janez Čop a letter of manumission
for successfully apprehending draft dodger
s.
While the front lines with Italy during WWI ran well to the south, Koroška Bela did not escape the war, being - on August 14, 1917 - badly damaged in an Italian air raid
.
The village's more recent history has been closely interrelated with that of Jesenice, with which it has gradually become more and more intertwined. The newest (early 1980s-vintage) facilities of the Acroni steelmill complex were built outside the center of Jesenice at Belsko field, directly below the village. A smaller facility (now closed) was located in the southwestern part of the village, adjacent to the railroad and the Javornik train station.
The village supports a cultural society, Možnar ("Mortar"), whose members fire mortars on special occasions. In 2004, at the ceremony marking the 1000th anniversary of Bled
and concurrent opening of the Črni Kal Viaduct
its members joined the RTV Slovenia symphony orchesra for a mortar-assisted performance of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture
.
The village church is dedicated to St. Ingenuin and St. Albuin
, bishops of Säben Abbey
from the 6th and 10th centuries respectively. The chapel of nearby Bled Castle
is also dedicated to the saints.
An original gothic church dated to 1361, but was rebuilt and expanded in 1754, and again after a fire in 1761, the work being completed in 1771. It was made a parish church in 1875, and contains frescoes by Matej Sternen
.
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
. While its name ("Carinthian White") refers to historic Carinthia
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
, it has long been located in the Upper Carniola
Upper Carniola
Upper Carniola is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jesenice, Tržič, Škofja Loka, Kamnik, and Domžale.- Historical background :...
n region rather than in present-day Slovene Carinthia. The village has long been a center of iron mining and processing
Ironworks
An ironworks or iron works is a building or site where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and/or steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e...
; until recently a majority of its inhabitants were employed in the steel industry.
Location
Koroška Bela is the first part of the municipality of Jesenice (Slovenia) that one encounters when approaching from the southeast, the direction of LjubljanaLjubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
. The village is located in a valley between four hills: Malnež and Obesenk (to the east), and Alnica and Strana (northwest). The valley is closed off to the north by mount Belščica, part of the Karavanke/Karawanken Alps; to the south it opens into Belsko Field, which borders the river Sava.
On the east side of the village runs the Bela creek, the source of which is below the peak of Belščica, between Potoško and Olipovo hills. In the lower western part ot the village, the border with the neighboring settlement of Javornik
Slovenski Javornik
Slovenski Javornik is a settlement in the Municipality of Jesenice in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. Commonly known simply as Javornik, the place name is derived from the Slovene word javor 'maple'....
runs parallel to bridges over the Javornik creek, though there is a friendly, long-running quarrel with Javornik over the exact boundary line.
History
The oldest settlement in the area of the modern Jesenice municipality, Koroška Bela was founded by the Bishopric of BrixenBishopric of Brixen
The Bishopric of Brixen is a former Roman Catholic diocese and also a former ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire in the present province of South Tyrol. The bishopric in the Eisack/Isarco valley was established in the 6th century and gradually received more secular powers...
around the year 1000, at approximately the same time as nearby Bled
Bled
Bled is a municipality in northwestern Slovenia in the region of Upper Carniola. The area, within the Julian Alps, is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
. Slovenes had settled the surrounding area by the late 10th century, as attested both by archaeological and documentary evidence, notably the land deeds of peasants donating their lands to clergy or nobility, which record Slavic
Slavic Europe
Slavic Europe is a region of Europe where Slavic languages are spoken. This area is situated in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, and includes the nations of Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia,...
placenames by this date. During the 11th century, settements in the Bled region included Grad
Bled
Bled is a municipality in northwestern Slovenia in the region of Upper Carniola. The area, within the Julian Alps, is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
, Zagorice
Bled
Bled is a municipality in northwestern Slovenia in the region of Upper Carniola. The area, within the Julian Alps, is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
, Želeče
Bled
Bled is a municipality in northwestern Slovenia in the region of Upper Carniola. The area, within the Julian Alps, is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
, Mlino
Bled
Bled is a municipality in northwestern Slovenia in the region of Upper Carniola. The area, within the Julian Alps, is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
, Koritno
Koritno, Bled
Koritno is a settlement in the Bled municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.- External links :*...
, Bodešče
Bodešce
Bodešče is a village on the left bank of the Sava Bohinjka in the Municipality of Bled in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.The village church is dedicated to Saint Leonard and was allegedly built on the site of an ancient fort. The church has a covered porch, a square nave and a narrow Gothic...
, Selo
Selo pri Bledu
Selo pri Bledu is a settlement in the Bled municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.-External links:*...
, Kupljenik
Kupljenik
Kupljenik is a village in the Municipality of Bled in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.The village church is dedicated to Saint Stephen.-External links:*...
, Rečica
Bled
Bled is a municipality in northwestern Slovenia in the region of Upper Carniola. The area, within the Julian Alps, is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
, Radovna
Zgornja Radovna
Zgornja Radovna is a settlement in the Radovna Valley in the Kranjska Gora municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. It prides upon one of the oldest surviving traditional farmhouses in the Triglav National Park, the Pocar farmhouse, with the date 1775 engraved on one of its beams and...
, Podhom
Podhom
Podhom is a settlement in the Gorje municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.-External links:*...
, Poljšica
Poljšica pri Podnartu
Poljšica pri Podnartu is a settlement in the Radovljica municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.-External links:*...
, Blejska Dobrava
Blejska Dobrava
Blejska Dobrava is a settlement in the municipality of Jesenice, in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. It is one of the oldest villages in the area, attested from the 12th century, and is located at the base of the Mežakla plateau, on a series of river terraces between the right bank of the...
, Sebenje
Zasip
Zasip is a village in the Bled municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.There are three churches in and in the vicinity of the village....
, and others.
Some local peasants remained free until after 1100, but gradually all farms in the area came under feudal control. The principal landlord was the see of Brixen, which in the 13th century began converting some of their serfs into semi-freemen, living on so-called "census" farms. During the 13th century, Koroška Bela was among the larger settlements of the Bled lordship; a 1253 urbar (survey-book) lists 15 such farms..
In the second half of the 14th century, the peasants' level of feudal obligation began to grow, with the introductions of the tithe
Tithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
and of mandatory servitude. High levels of debt began to lead to evictions. In 1515, the peasants of Radovljica
Radovljica
Radovljica is a town and a municipality in in the Upper Carniola region of northern Slovenia. The municipality has around 18,000 inhabitants and an area of 118 km²...
, Bled and Bohinj
Bohinj
Bohinj is a municipality in the Upper Carniola region of northwestern Slovenia, covering the 20 km long and 5 km wide Bohinj basin of the Sava Bohinjka river within the Julian Alps, characterized by the periglacial Lake Bohinj...
revolted unsuccessfully. The leaders of the insurgency were killed, and all participating households were taxed the "rebels' pfennig
Pfennig
The Pfennig , plural Pfennige, is an old German coin or note, which existed from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002....
" in perpetuity, the financial pressure leading to additional revolts; around 100 minor and four major ones are recorded, as well as civil petitions to the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
authorities for relief. In 1557, records show that three farmers (Luka Ambrožič, Ambrož Vidič, and Jurij Pretnar) and the village assembly filed a complaint due to harsh duties imposed on them.
The historian Valvasor
Janez Vajkard Valvasor
Johann Weichard Freiherr von Valvasor or simply Valvasor was a Slovenian nobleman, scientist and polymath, and a fellow of the Royal Society in London.-Biography:...
briefly mentions Koroška Bela in his 1689 The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola
The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola
The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola is Johann Weikhard von Valvasor's most important work on history and natural history of his homeland Carniola, a central part of the present-day Slovenia and Istria in Croatia....
(under its German name of Karner Velach) as a hamlet below snowy mountains, inhabited by miners and iron ore-teamsters. By this period, local peasants owed the gentry 18 days of servitude a year, including the performance of such tasks as preparing firewood, shoveling snow, cleaning produce, and clearing pastures. One could buy out one's service obligations at a rate of three crowns a day. Circumstances began to improve during the late-18th century, with the reforms of Maria Theresia and Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
, by the reign of the former of which iron ore was being mined above the village, on the slopes of Belščica and on Ajdna
Ajdna
Ajdna is a peak in the Karavanke in the Žirovnica municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. Access to it is easiest from the village of Potoki in the neighbouring Jesenice municipality....
.
On 27 June of 1761, the entire village of 60 houses burned down, including the church. In 1789, torrential rains led to a major landslide
Landslide
A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
; the hill Cikla slid into the village along the course of the creek Bela, burying 47 houses and many unfortunate residents.
During the late-18th century Franco-Austrian wars
Franco-Austrian War
Franco-Austrian War can refer to any of a number of wars between France and Austria:*Part of the Thirty Years' War *The Franco-Dutch War *The War of the Grand Alliance *The War of the Spanish Succession...
, Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
authorities had difficulties drafting soldiers in the area. Many young unmarried men had instead gone into hiding in the woods; the Austrian governor Indermauer awarded local peasant Janez Čop a letter of manumission
Manumission
Manumission is the act of a slave owner freeing his or her slaves. In the United States before the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished most slavery, this often happened upon the death of the owner, under conditions in his will.-Motivations:The...
for successfully apprehending draft dodger
Draft dodger
Draft evasion is a term that refers to an intentional failure to comply with the military conscription policies of the nation to which he or she is subject...
s.
While the front lines with Italy during WWI ran well to the south, Koroška Bela did not escape the war, being - on August 14, 1917 - badly damaged in an Italian air raid
Regia Aeronautica
The Italian Royal Air Force was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946...
.
The village's more recent history has been closely interrelated with that of Jesenice, with which it has gradually become more and more intertwined. The newest (early 1980s-vintage) facilities of the Acroni steelmill complex were built outside the center of Jesenice at Belsko field, directly below the village. A smaller facility (now closed) was located in the southwestern part of the village, adjacent to the railroad and the Javornik train station.
The village supports a cultural society, Možnar ("Mortar"), whose members fire mortars on special occasions. In 2004, at the ceremony marking the 1000th anniversary of Bled
Bled
Bled is a municipality in northwestern Slovenia in the region of Upper Carniola. The area, within the Julian Alps, is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
and concurrent opening of the Črni Kal Viaduct
Crni Kal Viaduct
The Črni Kal Viaduct is the longest and highest viaduct in Slovenia. It is located on the A1 motorway above the Osp Valley near the village of Gabrovica, about 20 km east of Koper. Its name means "Black Dale" in Slovene, after the depression it crosses....
its members joined the RTV Slovenia symphony orchesra for a mortar-assisted performance of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture
1812 Overture
The Year 1812, Festival Overture in E flat major, Op. 49, popularly known as the 1812 Overture or the Overture of 1812 is an overture written by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1880 to commemorate Russia's defense of Moscow against Napoleon's advancing Grande Armée at the Battle of...
.
Church of St Ingenuin and St Albuin
Main article:" Church of St. Ingenuin and St. AlbuinChurch of St. Ingenuin and St. Albuin
The Church of St. Ingenuin and St. Albuin is a Catholic church located in the village of Koroška Bela, in the municipality of Jesenice in northwestern Slovenia. The church is dedicated to St. Ingenuin and St...
The village church is dedicated to St. Ingenuin and St. Albuin
Bishopric of Brixen
The Bishopric of Brixen is a former Roman Catholic diocese and also a former ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire in the present province of South Tyrol. The bishopric in the Eisack/Isarco valley was established in the 6th century and gradually received more secular powers...
, bishops of Säben Abbey
Säben Abbey
Säben Abbey is a Benedictine nunnery located near Klausen in South Tyrol, northern Italy. It was established in 1687, when it was first settled by the nuns of Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg.-History:...
from the 6th and 10th centuries respectively. The chapel of nearby Bled Castle
Bled Castle
Bled Castle is a medieval castle built on a precipice above the city of Bled in Slovenia, overlooking Lake Bled. According to written sources, it is the oldest Slovenian castle and is currently one of the most visited tourist attractions in Slovenia....
is also dedicated to the saints.
An original gothic church dated to 1361, but was rebuilt and expanded in 1754, and again after a fire in 1761, the work being completed in 1771. It was made a parish church in 1875, and contains frescoes by Matej Sternen
Matej Sternen
Matej Sternen was a leading Slovene Impressionist painter.Sternen was born in Verd, now part of the Carniolan municipality of Vrhnika, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He attended the secondary school in Krško and attended technical school in Graz between 1888 and 1891...
.