April 2015 marks 600 years since Ernest the Iron, Austrian Archduke and Carniolan Provincial Prince, issued a relatively modest deed, confirming that lords, knights and squires of Carniola allowed him to collect taxes from their subjects and in general gladly offered their help when the need arose. Ernest promised that such granting of tax (help) would in no way harm Carniolan noblemen or their privileges and assured that in the future he would neither demand nor accept such help from them.

Around 1980, the State Security Service (SSS) embarked on improving the implementation and supervision of its radio communications. The number of the SSS secret missions abroad increased and so did the need to supervise radio communications of foreign police and of possible foreign agents. Extensive market research was done to purchase »prototypes«” of equipment that would enable secret communication with operating agents.

The project “Triglav Lift System” was among the most ambitious, yet unfortunately never realized, Slovenian tourist projects. The role of the project developer was assigned to the Institute for the Construction of Sports Centres in the Triglav Mountain Range. In its 1963 work report and its Proposition to include the project of Triglav Lift System in the seven-year plan of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, the institute stated several reasons why the project should be carried out.

In 2014, the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia received a donation which among other things included also part of the legacy of dr. Igor Breznik. In it there is a collection of drawings made at the Italian concentration camp in Gonars. Included in the collection are two watercolours and 21 drawings, all created at the concentration camp in 1942. The author of most of drawings and watercolours is Valentin Horvat.

This year marks the 500th anniversary of the largest Slovenian peasant revolt which already in the sources of that time was referred to as the Slovenian Revolt (Windischer Bauernbund). The document presented here was written after the meeting of the Carniolan nobility in Ljubljana and Kamnik, which was where most of the provincial nobles took refuge during the revolt.The instruction for Sigmund Lamberg of Črnelo, who was chosen as their delegate to the emperor Maximilian, contains valuable information about the course of the revolt.

In mid-August 1918, the National Council in Ljubljana was founded as the highest ranking Slovenian political organization, which included all Slovenian political parties for a common goal to make the necessary preparations for the joining of Slovenes with Croats and Serbs in a new, independednt state. The official press release of the National Council's founding session provides information on the course of the founding session, and on the National Council's tasks and organizational structure (its 8 sections).

In the autumn of 1954, the Slovenian Red Cross organized an exhibition on non-alcoholic drinks. Around 30.000 people visited the exhibition and their reviews are gathered in the book that we are presenting here as this month’s archivalia. Most of the reviews were positive, encouraging the hosting of similar exhibitions, but some also drew attention to the overcharging and poor quality of non-alcoholic drinks and to the fact that it was sometimes impossible to buy them in the pubs or in the shops.

The most typical and the most beautiful view that opens up to visitors of the Lake Bohinj is the view of the lake and the medieval church of St. John the Baptist located at the lake's eastern edge to which a stone bridge leads. It may appear that the sight has been there »forever«, but that is not so.

Preserved in the archival fonds of the Yugoslav Copyright Agency – Branch Office for Slovenia (SI AS 2144) are mostly records that deal with the payment of fees. Chosen as this month’s archivalia are the programs of Slovenian professional and semi-professional theaters for season 1965/66 which were sent to the copyright agency prior to the start of the season. The agency then prepared authorization.

Map and chart collection of the Archives of Republic of Slovenia includes 3210 items, divided into 12 thematic units. Included among the unit of Military operations are 43 items, among them the charts that were drawn after the battle of Custoza in June 1866 are particularly interesting.

Archival documents of the administrative department of the Dravska Banovina also include classification scheme fascicle 13-20, where among the records of financial and criminal police on lesser offences against excise and duties, records on persecution of suspicious persons, records on supervision of cheats and forgers, and among other denunciations and security reports, one can also find several records on the forgery of money. Nestled among these documents there is even a fake 2 dinar coin of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes bearing the year 1925.

In his poem titled My Monument, Valentin Vodnik (1758-1819), the Slovenian priest, poet, pedagogue, journalist and linguist, announced that he shall be remembered mostly for his poems. But the probate inventory reveals that after his death a number of other things were found, listed and valued in his apartment.

The Rules of the Society for Beautification of the Market Town of Postojna for the Welcoming of Foreign Travelers were published in 1883 and were bilingual, written in German and Slovenian. The rules of this Postojna "tourism" society were probably the first rules of any such society that were written in the Slovenian language and show the important contribution that a local society made to the development of tourism in Slovenia.

This month’s archivalia revolves around a fifty-year-old 35 mm film copy of the recording of the puppet show Twinkle Sleepyhead prepared by Črt Škodlar. Although the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia keeps only the Serbo-Croatian version of the recording, we do, however, keep the original shooting script for the film Twinkle Sleepyhead and the digital version of the 2003 film, equipped with original Slovenian sound recording.

Presented here as this month's archivalia are two letters written in 1948 by Milena Mohorič to the Primer Minister of the People's Republic of Slovenia Miha Marinko and to the 2nd Congress of the Communist Party of Slovenia. The story of a Germanist, a female poet and writer Milena Mohorič, married name Premru (1905-1972), is used to demonstrate just how quickly a revolution can turn into a monster that eats its children and how profoundly political systems can affect a life of an individual.

May 13, 2017 marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Austrian Archduchess and Empress Maria Theresia, who ruled between 1740 and 1780. This months archivalia presents the powerful monarch with her imperial coat of arms and her ruler's title as depicted by the beautifully preserved seal attached to her 1748 charter.

History knows of stories and personalities who never cease to captivate our imagination. Whether awakened by memories, publicists or other serious scientific work, such personalities instantly come to life whenever even the slightest fragment of archival material concerning them appears. Presented here are such fragments which provide an insight into the agonizing and persistent search of German authorities for the “phantom” leader of Yugoslav partisans.

On November 21, 1916 Emperor Franz Joseph died after having ruled for 68 years. Letters of condolence from offices, various societies and publicly active individuals immediately started to pour to the Vienna court and to various provincial authorities. They were all written in somewhat similar manner; starting with expressions of deepest sympathy, followed by the listing of the emperor’s achievements, and concluding with the paying of the respect to the new emperor. Although written in the same spirit, the here presented document of the Carniolan Chamber of Commerce and Crafts for Carniola was published in a series of papers that the said Chamber regularly put out.

This month’s archivalia, using mostly records kept by the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia, aims to present the reasons for the building of the Brćko-Banovići “youth railway line” and to describe the role of Slovenian youth in this project. An almost 90 km long railway line was built in just over six months.

The online column Archivalia of the Month has been published since January 2011. Its purpose is to promote the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia and its archival holdings. Presented in the column are archival documents that are interesting visually and content-wise, as well as newly acquired documents or the ones that have so far been overlooked. Also published are documents relating to various anniversaries, current events and many more.

Below you will find the Archivalias of the Month of 2016.