Triglav is Ours - New Historical Discoveries by Dušan Škodič

Triglav is Ours, the new book by tireless researcher of mountaineering history Dušan Škodič, on the occasion of this year's 130th anniversary of the founding of the Slovenian Mountaineering Association (SPD), predecessor of the Alpine Association of Slovenia (PZS), based on unexpectedly discovered archives, sheds new light on the beginnings of organized mountaineering and alpinism in Slovenia. It provides a vivid description of SPD activities, against the background of which national frictions became increasingly obvious and coarser, and the author ingeniously weaves in the story of the symbol of Slovenianhood, Triglav. The center of the second part of the book is alpinism with a series of previously unknown curiosities about Klodwig Tschad, the Drenovci group and others, as well as about the Julian Alps, the fearsome Wall and the planning of a cog railway to Triglav. Škodič talks about the book in the latest PZS podcast V steni, presents it on November 22 at the Slovenian Book Fair in Ljubljana, and on December 11 at the main event of the Brati gore festival in Kamnik.

"The main reason for highlighting the beginnings of organized mountaineering and alpinism on our soil was simple. The German threat that once loomed to Germanize our mountains has not existed for over a hundred years, but our mountaineering history has been portrayed embellished and purified practically since the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy," emphasizes the book's author Dušan Škodič, well known to lovers of mountaineering literature, as four of his works have already been published by Planinska založba: the sold-out collection of historical stories People in the Mountains, the collection of mountaineering humoresques Laughter from the Mountains, the mountaineering-historical guide Border on the Divide, and the latest book Triglav is Ours. "The purpose of this book, which deals with the Slovenian nation in connection with our mountains up to the end of the First World War, is not an attempt to change mountaineering history or rehabilitate the merits of people who have disappeared from memory because they became members of an enemy nation. With it, I want to fill the cracks in time so that it all makes real sense.

From Škodič's book Triglav is Ours, edited by Andrej Mašera, the reality of life in the then multi-ethnic monarchy is reflected. After its collapse, new states emerged, and the time of the beginnings of mountaineering and alpinism was covered by deliberate oblivion, which preserved only black-and-white chapters. "The book Triglav is Ours is told by historical archives that were unknown until recently. Its story is humanly bloody under the skin and much more interesting than the one we knew. It was created by real people, with their good and bad qualities. Above all, it is logical and without gray gaps," says Škodič and adds: "When, if not now on this high anniversary, is finally the time to look it in the eye? Already for the sake of our mountaineering and alpinism ancestors who played an active role in it and placed Slovenes among important Alpine nations ..."

The unexpected discovery of an extensive lost archive in Innsbruck in 2021 made it possible to fill the cracks in time and illuminate the multi-layered history of our mountaineering and alpinism, as the entire old archive from the SPD era was destroyed in a fire in 1958 when the PZS premises burned down. "The most shocking was the fact that the SPD was for almost three years at the beginning a branch of the German-Austrian Alpine Association DÖAV. If someone had said this aloud once, it would have been almost blasphemous because of the national struggle for our mountains. However, both the accession and withdrawal documents that the SPD leadership sent to Austria prove it, as they bear the signatures of leading officials. This was information that our ancestors more than a century ago completely concealed from their successors ... Similarly, the alpinistic achievements of alpinists in Carniola were forgotten, who with their most prominent representative, the Ljubljana native Tschad, already before the First World War belonged to the very top of Europe," Škodič speaks about the important discoveries.

In creating this book, Škodič delved into numerous historical sources and among other things studied the life path and significance of the German alpinist Klodwig Tschad, about whom we did not know much until now, but who was probably the best alpinist among us before World War I. Interest is also aroused by the chapter on mountain guide Janez Košir, the first Slovene who documentedly climbed the German Route in the North Face of Triglav as early as 1908, accompanied by famous Austrian alpinists Franz Zimmer and Gustav Jahn. A special place in the book is also taken by the ambitious planning of the railway line from Bohinjska Bistrica to the Vojsko Valley and further a cog railway to Triglav.

The valuable archive was accessed simultaneously and in collaboration with Marija Mojca Peternel, a Germanist at the Department of History of the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana, also the book's reviewer. The new findings are extremely relevant also for the German-speaking environment, as Škodič's scientific article was published this year in German in an enviable print run: "The article dealt with German branches of DÖAV on our soil, national strife around the mountains and all the behind-the-scenes games and insolent insinuations that made it into the newspapers of the time, even more of which remained hidden. The monarchy together with the German branches was ended by the First World War, but no one in Germany and Austria later addressed this chapter. The fate of the German branches in Carniola seemed interesting to them precisely there, from where they forwarded the lost archives. The archivist in Innsbruck, who kindly helped all the time, suggested to the chief editor to translate the text into German and publish it in the annual anthology Berg 2024, which is jointly published by the German-Austrian Alpine Association and the South Tyrol Alpine Association. The anthology is sold every year in more than 20,000 copies, which is scientific fiction for our language area."

Vandot's tale of the heroic Kekec could also be a transferred story of the young SPD. The similarity is almost too great to be entirely fictional, Škodič notes in the vivid introduction, who chose a meaningful title for the book and also a slightly provocative cover. The photograph of a girl merrily striding on Aljaž Tower was taken in 1919, a few months after the collapse of the monarchy. The dilapidated and crumbling tower reflects the real state of mountaineering at the time and was at that moment still very far from the Slovenian national symbol. "The short and punchy title, which is also the motto of the entire book, hides the paradox of the prehistory of our organized mountaineering and alpinism before the collapse of the monarchy. In the case of Slovenes and Germans who fought for our mountains, the picture was not black and white. Of course, nationalism elevated everything to a completely different level and actions became increasingly insolent. In the book, I present behind-the-scenes strife and mutual insinuations that were preserved in confidential documents. At the same time, it is indisputable that both, Slovenes and local Germans, who were mostly of Slovenian origin, considered the land of Carniola, its mountains and Triglav their own with all their heart."

You can get to know Dušan Škodič, who will be the keynote speaker on December 2, 2023, at the awarding of the highest awards of the Alpine Association of Slovenia in Ljubno, and his mountaineering research thoroughly in the latest PZS podcast V steni. He was invited in front of the microphone by PZS Vice-President Miha Habjan.

On Wednesday, November 22, 2023, at 12 noon, Škodič accompanies the book to readers at the Slovenian Book Fair in Ljubljana. On the Writers' Stage at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre, Manca Ogrin will talk with him.

Triglav is Ours will be in the spotlight on the 130th anniversary of the Alpine Association of Slovenia at the main event of the Alpine Convention festival Brati gore 2023. On the International Mountain Day, December 11, 2023, at 6 p.m., Matjaž Šerkezi will talk with Dušan Škodič and PZS President Jože Rovan in the France Balantič Library in Kamnik. The event is co-organized by PZS and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning of the Republic of Slovenia.