Video section: 08:00 - CHAPTER 6: Janezek’s School
Cottage houses were constructed without foundations on rocky soil; the ground floor was made of bricks and the rest was made of wood. The roofs were covered with wooden planks – shingles. “Janezek’s school” was built in the 18th century and it was constructed in the same way—with a wooden frame and a “gank” (a covered balcony). This is a rare case of a preserved farm house. Inside was a small room called an “izba”, a “black kitchen” (open-hearth kitchen) and a wooden ceiling.
Janezek’s School (Murova 18), around 1970 (source: photographic library of the Upper Sava Valley Museum)
The house is known as the first Jesenice school. A regular single class school started here in 1825, and later on, the first and second grade were taught here. In 1882, the Municipality of Jesenice bought Kos Manor House and the classes were held there thereafter.
The teacher, Jožef Klopčič, and the Jesenice school council between 1877 and 1881 when he taught in Jesenice (source: photographic library of the Upper Sava Valley Museum)
Janezek’s school was attended by pupils from farming and working-class families. The children wore a sack made of hard canvas over their shoulder. They wrote on a hard, almost parchment-like paper, or on black writing slates. A boiled and dried tree fungi was used for erasing. They learned how to read, write and calculate.
In the records from the first period of schooling in Jesenice, a teacher called Janez appears. Supposedly, he was of a shorter and slighter build which is why people named him Janezek. And this is where the name “Janezek’s school” comes from. According to the records, he lived at the school in a humble abode with a stove, and he even cooked for himself.
The exterior of Pračkova hiša at Murova 19 (source: photographic library of the Upper Sava Valley Museum)
Next to the school is a preserved cottager dwelling from the 17th century with a brick ground floor and a wooden first floor. Only a small room and a “black kitchen” could be found inside. It is a fine-looking house, constructed on top of a cellar, that tells a tale of former glory and of various forms of wooden architecture that were once prevalent in Old Jesenice Settlement. Today, it is also known as Praček House.
Ciril Praček, * 1913 – † 2000 (source: estate of Ciril Praček, Jesenice Municipal Library)
In 1923, the house was bought by the Praček family who lived here until 2011. The father died young, so the mother was left alone to care for their six children. The oldest son Ciril became a carer for his younger siblings and also did very well at school.
Ciril at the 1936 Winter Olympics at Garmisch-Partenkirchen (source: estate of Ciril Praček, Jesenice Municipal Library)
Ciril’s greatest passions were skiing and mountaineering. As he was an exceptional skier, he was the national champion in alpine disciplines several times, and became a member of the Yugoslav national team in 1931. At the 1936 Winter Olympics at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, he took 15th place in the Nordic combined, and he also participated at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St Moritz. At the World Ski Championships in Zakopane, he took 7th place in the slalom and 12th place in the Nordic combined. Later in life, he taught the younger generations; he was the first trainer of Alenka Dovžan, the winner of the bronze medal at the Olympics in Lillehammer in 1994.
As an alpinist, he made more than 300 climbing ascents, 11 of which were first ascents. He became a member of the Mountain Rescue Association and collaborated with the Jesenice mountain rescuers for half a century; he received several awards from the Alpine Association of Slovenia and the golden medal of the Mountain Rescue Association.
He wrote prolifically about his work, his endeavours and experiences, and journaled the paths and conditions in the mountains. In so doing, he gathered an extensive collection of materials and then published his memoirs in his book “Vrnite mi moje sinove z gore” (Bring My Sons Back From the Mountain). Before that, he had already written several articles and discussions, manuals (for skiing, slalom) and guide books (ski touring), as well as other expert reading material (“Med gorskimi reševalci”, Among the Mountain Rescuers).
Črni vrh above Planina pod Golico: Lojzka and Anica Praček (source: estate of Ciril Praček, Jesenice Municipal Library)
Out of all of his brothers and sisters, it was his younger sister Lojzka who was fascinated by skiing the most, and who competed against men in the “Triglavski smuk” races (ski touring race). She was also a member of the national women’s team for several years.
Črni vrh above Planina pod Golico: Lojzka Praček on the starting line (source: estate of Ciril Praček, Jesenice Municipal Library)
In Vršič: Ciril Praček with his sister Lojzka in the back (source: estate of Ciril Praček, Jesenice Municipal Library)
Sources:
- »Kako so na Murovi včasih živeli?« (Jesenice Adult Education Centre, 2010),
- »Ta stare Jesenice ali Murova in Plavž« (Zdenka Torkar Tahir, Upper Sava Valley Museum Jesenice, 2010),
- Jesenice Municipal Library – estate of Ciril Praček
- Oral testimonies by locals: family Čufer., Janez Pšenica, Avgust Mencinger, Jože Mencinger, Janez Višnar Jr., Anton Ravnikar, Dušan Hafner, Marija Markeš, Zvonka Petrovič
Imprint:
Project: The Memories of Old Jesenice Settlement
Financed by: Municipality of Jesenice
Realisation: Upper Gorenjska Development Agency, Gornjesavski muzej Jesenice
Proofreading and translation: TellUs, Maja Davis s.p.
Photo editing: Jamaja, Maja Rostohar s.p.
Jesenice, 2020
