Kočevje Regional Museum

The origins of the Kočevje Regional Museum date back to the founding of the Museum Society of Kočevje in 1953. The society was initially housed in the former Skubiz villa on the Rinža, which today houses the offices of Kočevje Municipality. Due to poor conditions for storage the museum was moved in 1963 into Sokol House, originally constructed in 1937–1938 as a multi purpose building with a large central auditorium, which in October 1943 hosted the Assembly of the Delegates of the Slovene Nation, the first elected parliament in the history of the Slovenes. In 1947 Sokol House was renamed Šešek House in honour of national hero Jože Šešek who was executed by Italian occupation forces in 1942.

Collections

Kočevje Regional Museum presents several collections, including Drawings by Painter Božidar Jakac in the auditorium – among them are 34 drawings made during the session of the Assembly in 1943; and the Lost Cultural Heritage of the Kočevje Germans – presenting the Kočevje region, which after over 600 years was suddenly abandoned by its majority (German) population in the winter of 1941–1942 when this region was not incorporated in the German occupation zone, but occupied by Italians. The leaders of the Kočevje Germans agreed with the German government to move the entire population to the Reich. The resettlement, the ravages of the war, the post-war collapse, and the systematic destruction had far-reaching consequences for the once-developed cultural landscape.

The third part of the presented collection is the exhibition The Nation Will Write Its Own Judgement, Slovenia from Idea To The State. The first sentence is the only slogan that remained after the German occupation army badly damaged Sešek House in October 1943 after the Assembly. The exhibition focuses on this part of the nation's history, but also shows the history from the first Slavic tribes who settled in these parts up to the independence of Slovenia in 1991. Permanent exhibitions are mainly set up with big panels with photos and text, among them are scattered historical and ethnological artefacts.

Temporary exhibitions

The Kočevje Regional Museum also organises temporary exhibitions in collaboration with four other museums in the neighbouring regions, the Bela krajina Museum, Metlika, the Dolenjska Museum Novo mesto, the Božidar Jakac Art Museum, Kostanjevica na Krki, the Museum of the Posavje Region, Brežice that are exchanged among the institutions, for example: Landscapes From The Museums Depos and Independence War for Slovenia. A temporary exhibition created by the Kočevje Regional Museum is about the Likovni Salon Kočevje, an art gallery and collection that was established in 1966 and active until the mid-1980s, when it was cancelled in 1986. The collection is now scattered among public institutions and is under the jurisdiction of the Kočevje Municipality. The museum periodically shows exhibitions from this art collection.

Dislocated units

The museum has two dislocated units with their own permanent exhibitions. At Pregrad Kulturni dom is the exhibition Predgrad and Predgrajci, revealing the ethnology, folklore, and history of inhabitants of the Poljanska Valley by the Kolpa River based on the research and book by Marija Makarovič.

The second permanent exhibition is Churches and Chapels of Kočevska Reka Parish in the renovated Church of St John the Baptist in Kočevska Reka. The Vicariate of Gotenica was mentioned as early as 1363. The exhibition presents ecclesiastical history, the history of the Kočevje Germans, and the devastation during and after World War II, when most of the churches and villages were left to ruin or were intentionally destroyed. For nearly 50 years, Kočevska Reka was a closed military zone.

External links

Kočevje Regional Museum

Contents

Collections

Temporary exhibitions

Dislocated units

See also

External links

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