FIRST SETTLERS
Before it was settled, the Upper Sava Valley was a forested world, through which few travellers made their way across the Korensko sedlo pass to the neighbouring Carinthia or to Friuli. The main villages of Dovje and Mojstrana have different origins, Dovje is the older settlement, first mentioned in 1033. After the German Emperor Konrad II and Count Alberik gifted the Dovje land to the Diocese of Freising, the settlement of serfs from the Pustriška valley and Lower Carniola began accelerating. Another reason for the accelerated settlement was the exemption of compulsory labour, and so by 1065 Dovje was already home to four large farms. In 1286, Dovje was an independent county – a municipality, inhabited mainly by agricultural settlers.
RISE AND FALL OF THE IRONWORKS
The discovery of iron ore deposits in what is now Upper Carniola led to the development of a number of small ironworks wherever, in addition to the ore deposits, water power and beech wood as raw material for charcoal production were available. For this reason, in 1291, the authorities sent four ironworkers to Mojstrana, who earned their living by farming and paid their taxes in iron. Iron ore deposits were also found in the Vrata Valley, where charcoal was also produced. The new settlement, which emerged between the Triglavska Bistrica and Sava Dolinka rivers, was named Mojstrana – probably taking its name from the German “Maistern”, after the master ironworkers. There was a demand for more agricultural produce, which the ironworkers needed to provide for their families, and so in 1318 the authorities settled in Mojstrana the first five farmers, who marked the beginning of the development of the settlement.
The further development of the two villages took different paths. In Dovje, as deforestation continued, new farms emerged, as well as small farms in the higher areas, the so-called ‘kajže’. Due to the scarcity of arable land, the small farmers in particular earned extra income by working in the forest, charcoal-burning and other odd jobs. It is from this population structure that many craftsmen, such as weavers, carpenters, shoemakers, blacksmiths and masons, emerged in Mojstrana.
The iron ore reserves in Vrata soon became unprofitable, and so the production of pig iron took place in Jesenice, while forges were established in Mojstrana and Radovna, which, processed the pig iron brought from Jesenice into products with mechanical properties suitable for further use. These were then transported by horse to Friuli (Italy), where they were exchanged for products needed by the people living in and around Jesenice. The ironworks and later the forges had many owners, who struggled to keep up with the technological advances in steelmaking, and so in 1887 the forges in the Mojstrana and Radovna area were eventually closed.
CEMENT WORKS AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE LJUBLJANA–TARVISIO RAILWAY
After the collapse of the forges, an economic crisis struck, during which the families of the iron- workers, as well as some of the sons of the farm owners, emigrated as economic migrants, mainly to America, attracted by the desire for high and easy earnings. Tragically, many returned to their hometowns – exhausted, disabled and penniless.
The idea of building a cement factory gave a new impetus to Mojstrana’s economic development. The Austrian company P.H. Amman from Möddling was chosen to supply cement for the construction of the Siemens-Martin steel furnac- es in Jesenice. Geological surveys showed that there were sufficient reserves of marl (one of the raw materials for cement production) in the area around Mojstrana and in Radovna for a cement factory to be profitable. The cement factory was built and started operating in 1893. The economic crisis of the late 1920s, the change of ownership and the use of inferior raw materials, as well as the flood of 1926, led to the closure of the factory in 1932. The observant visitor to Mojstrana will still see some remnants of the former cement factory at the entrance to the part of the settlement known to the locals as ‘Fabrka’, next to the technological scheme.
In 1870, the Ljubljana-Tarvisio railway line was built, which changed the course of develop- ment in both villages to a considerable extent. With the construction of the railway, access to the Triglav valleys and Mount Triglav itself was significantly shortened and the first large groups of tourists began to arrive to admire the Alpine world. Mojstrana’s economic power and importance increased significantly and in this sense it took over the long-standing primacy of Dovje. With the construction of a hotel in Mojstrana, public institutions such as the post office and the armoury moved there, as well as the municipal seat in 1921, when the first mayor from Mojstrana was elected. Gastronomy also developed rapidly, with seven taverns operating in the two villages.
After the collapse of the smaller ironworks, steel production was concentrated in the nearby town of Jesenice, where the Carniolan Industrial Company was growing. Many residents of Dovje and Mojstrana found work there. Thanks to its favourable climatic conditions, Mojstrana also became a resort visited by many renowned per- sonalities, among them the then King Alexander of Yugoslavia. With the construction of mountain lodges in Vrata and around Mount Triglav, the number of visitors to the mountains began to grow rapidly. After World War II, the development of tourism in the then Jesenice municipality was focused on the ski centre of Kranjska Gora, and there was, as a result, less important economic activity in Mojstrana. Apart from agricultural activities, residents found work at the Jesenice Ironworks, the KOOP metal products company and the LIP small wood processing factory. However, sports activity, especially winter sports, was strongly developed, with as many as 18 Olympic Games participants coming from Dovje and Mojstrana.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOUNTAINEERING BEFORE THE FOUNDING OF THE ALPINE CLUB
As with other Alpine countries, the first visitors to the Triglav Mountains were the locals, who, as shepherds, herb gatherers and woodcutters, learned about the mountain world. There- fore, as experts in the area, they were also the first guides for naturalists and scientists exploring the mountain world. After the first ascent to the peak of Mount Triglav on 26 August 1778, there was a growing interest in visiting the Triglav Mountains. As early as 1799, locals guided the district governor Hohenwart through Krma via Vele Polje up to Tosc. According to historical data, the first ancestors from Dovje and Mojstrana reached the peak of Mount Triglav as early as in 1824. And in 1836, the curator of the Provincial Museum in Ljubljana, Henrik Freyer, accompanied by Šmerec, an innkeeper from Mojstrana, made the first ascent to Stenar from Vrata.
When the Ljubljana-Tarvisio railway was opened in 1870, it marked a real mountaineering boom for the villages beneath Mount Triglav, as the easiest mountaineering trails to Triglav ran from Mojstrana through Krma and Kot. The increased interest of tourists in visiting Triglav and the need to keep up with the demand led to the establishment of the Carniola branch of the DuÖAV, which was founded in 1874. In 1877, the branch built the Maria Thereisen Hüte (today’s Planika lodge), but after that, its activities ceased for a while. They were restored in 1881 and in 1887 the Deschmann Hütte (today’s Staničev dom lodge) was built and opened. The branch also took over the training of guides and in 1894 organised the first course for guides in Carniola – it was held in Mojstrana and was attended by 13 participants from Mojstrana and other parts of the Upper Sava Valley.
With the foundation of the Slovenian Alpine Club in 1893, the national identity of Sloveni- ans began to grow. This gained particular impetus when Jakob Aljaž, the Dovje parish priest and a conscious Slovene, erected a tower on top of Triglav, which became a national symbol. The construction of the first mountain lodge in Vrata (1895) and the Triglav Lodge at Kredarica (1896), as well as the Aljažev dom lodge in Vrata (the first was built in 1904 but later destroyed by an avalanche, so in 1910 the second one was built), in- creased the number of mountaineers. At the same time, the struggle was unleashed between the Carinthian branch of the DuÖAV and the Slovenian Alpine Club for dominance in the Julian Alps, which continued until World War I. Until his death in 1927, Jakob Aljaž was the dominant mountaineering figure in the area, and the locals were the mountaineering guides, porters and lodge builders, many of whom at the time were active in both mountaineering organisations.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TRIGLAV BRANCH OF THE SLOVENIAN ALPINE CLUB DOVJE- MOJSTRANA (1928), THE PRESENT-DAY DOVJE-MOJSTRANA ALPINE CLUB
After the death of Jakob Aljaž, the Triglav branch of the Slovenian Alpine Club Dovje-Mojstrana was founded in 1928. From the start, it had 132 members, who, in the spirit of the times, tried to do as much as possible in the economic sphere – by building lodges and mountaineering trails. In 1932, they took over the Winter room of the mountain lodge on Zasipska planina, and in 1938 they built their own lodge on the Mlinca saddle, at the crossroads between the mountaineering trail leading to Kepa and Dovška Baba. In the same year, the Central Committee of the Slove- nian Alpine Club organised an expedition to the French province of Dauphiné, which was also attended by two members of the Club, Dr Miha Potočnik (later President of the Slovenian Alpine Federation) and Janez Brojan.
The further development of the Club was cut short by World War II, which also took its toll on the Club’s membership. The Club was revived in 1946, when it became in all its areas.