Slovenia - Celje - Old postcards

Where the Voglajna joins the Savinja River as it turns abruptly south toward the Sava, we find Celje, the third largest city in Slovenia. Its cultural legacy testifies to rich and turbulent centuries.

Originally "Keleia", a Celtic settlement where Noricum coins were minted, in the period of Emperor Claudius it developed as "Celeia" into the most important Roman borough and a most important economic and military center. Celje became the capital of a principality when the Counts of Celje were elevated to the status of princes in 1436. Allied with the German Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg, they struggled ever more bitterly ther Hapsburgs for political supremacy in Central Europe. When Count Ulrik II was assassinated in Belgrade by his Hugarian rivals in 1456, the cry "the Counts of Celje today and never again" marked the end of their dynasty and the city came under Hapsburg rule.

Celje defied natural disasters and enemies such as floods and the Turks and continued to develop its flourishing trade and commerce to strengthen its position as one of the most important cities in Lower Styria. The railway brought industrialization in 1846, which marked the end of the old times and the transition into a new exciting century in which Celje became a city with a lively cultural and tourist beat, a highly developed social life, a commercial, trade and fair center, and attractive surroundings.

Slovenia - Julijske Alpe

The Triglav National Park is the pride of the tourist region of the Julian Alps. It is the only national park in Slovenia. The park was conceived in as long ago as 1906 and originally centred on the area of the Triglav lakes. In 1981 the park was enlarged. It now covers an area of 83,807 hectares and includes practically the whole of the Slovene Julian Alps. The highest point of the park is the peak of Mt Triglav (2864 metres), the highest mountain in Slovenia, from which the park takes its name; the lowest point is in the Tolminka gorges (180 metres). The unique natural and cultural heritage of this area of Slovenia is fully contained within the borders of the Triglav National Park.

Slovenia – Kobarid

Kobarid is a town and a municipality in the upper Soča (Italian Isonzo) valley, western Slovenia, near the Italian border.
Kobarid is known for the famous Battle of Caporetto also known as the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo or the Battle of Karfreit. It took place from 24 October to 19 November 1917 (WWI).
Austro-Hungarian forces, reinforced by German units, were able to break into the Italian front line and rout the Italian army, which had practically no mobile reserves. The battle was a demonstration of the effectiveness of the use of stormtroopers and the infiltration tactics developed in part by Oskar von Hutier. The use of poison gas by the Germans played a key role in the collapse of the Italian Second Army.
The Italian retreat was documented by Ernest Hemingway in his novel “A Farewell to Arms”.