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Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Maribor, Slovenia.
Portoroz, Slovenia.
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Alternately titled: “Life in Provincial Europe Today.”
A long time ago, the blogger formerly known as AZ2SI kindly sent me a copy of John Ardagh’s travelogue “A Tale of Five Cities,” in which Ljubljana is one of the gang of five. The book is the story of five seemingly unconnected European cities and what life was like there nearly three decades ago.
Since Ardagh visited Slovenia in the late 70s, it’s a great opportunity to see how much has changed and how much hasn’t. Overall, Ardagh’s opinion of Ljubljana is a positive one, if a bit schizophrenic. At one point1 he states that “I have to come to like this the best of my five towns.”
However, in the book’s conclusion, he writes: “So, if I had to live the rest of my life in one of these towns, which would I choose? Stuttgart, definitely.”2 Huh? His reasoning: Ljubljana’s “small-town unsophistication might annoy me in the long run.”3 Ohhhh… snap!
On to the similarities…
Things That Haven’t Changed
* Foxy ladies: Ljubljana is “full of some of the prettiest girls I had ever seen.”4
* The black market: “Many a worker will conserve his energies during his secure regular job, in order to be strong and fresh for his lucrative free-lancing.” Later on, a building contractor tells him: “It’s so easy to dodge the rules in this country.”5
* Shabbiness: In the introduction, Ardagh hits upon one of the oddest mysteries of Slovenia, and the passage is worth quoting at length because it still holds true. He writes:
“The shabbiness is disconcerting. It is an odd reflection on socialism that although Slovenia today is more prosperous and more keen to display itself at its best than ever before in its history, yet its towns look much scruffier than they did under the Hapsburgs. The old Laibach, despite its severe poverty beneath the surface, was a spruce and tidy place, as most of Austria’s towns still are. Today matters are reversed. Ljubljana has acquired a modest affluence: go inside a flat or office and you will often find it neatly and smartly furnished. But down on the street, the façades of public buildings and the entrances of offices and apartment blocks are as gloomily unkempt and unpainted as elsewhere in Communist Europe… It is all curious, in a society otherwise so cultured, so eager to be modern, so proud. Is it simply that the easy-going pleasure-loving Slovenes do not share the Germanic obsession with spruceness? Or is it some flaw in the workings of Socialism, so that public ownership of property leads to a lack of incentive to look after it properly? We shall see.”6
Indeed we shall, John, because almost 30 years later the same odd phenomenon is still at work: meticulously kept homes and gardens, flawlessly well-dressed people, and yet: pervasive shabbiness in cities and public buildings. It’s true that there has been a lot of renovating recently, but in many cases the walls are vandalized before the paint has even dried, so that the general sense of neglect remains. Ardagh quotes an Englishman as saying: “I think they [Slovenes] get so used to this shabbiness that they cease to notice it.”7
I don’t know if that’s the case. But then again, I don’t know what the hell it is. A lack of community pride? A general consensus of “do-whatever-you-want, just leave-my-shit-alone”? Either way, it’s readily apparent that people don’t particularly care. As far as I can tell, vandalism is rarely punished, rarely cleaned and turns up almost everywhere. But God help you if you park your car in the wrong place for five minutes, because you better believe a pajek will be there to administer swift and costly justice.
Ardagh repeatedly returns to this theme, calling Ljubljana’s scruffiness “irritating”8 and, later, “horrifying”9.
In one angry passage, that will nevertheless please a lot of Slovenes, he writes: “If you arrive from Italy or Austria, this [shabbiness] hits you like a blow between the eyes — not so coming from Zagreb, which is even shabbier.”10 It will be interesting to see what the next 30 years will bring. Stay tuned to this space for the next three decades for the answer!
* The people. Slovenes are a “very informal, tolerant, self-satirising society.”11 True, although I’m not sure there are enough foreigners to correctly gauge just how tolerant people really are.
* The sex tourists. “Italians and Austrians come in hordes on day or weekend excursions. In order to attract more of these visitors, the authorities have created casinos and strip-tease night-clubs.”12 Elsewhere: “live sex-shows… almost exclusively for foreign visitors, notably Italians… Slovenes are not interested in such things.”13
Things That Have Changed
* Cheap books that don’t require taking out a loan to afford. “As in most socialist countries, publishing is subsidized and books are cheap: new hardbacks often cost a mere 60 to 80 dinars.” I’m not sure exactly how much that is in tolars or euros, but I do know that today no one ever uses the words “cheap” or “mere” in the same sentence as “books.” Books are outrageously expensive, so much so that there is a movement to lift taxes off of books.
* National loyalty. “The focus of loyalty here is very much the Slovene nation rather than the city of Ljubljana.”14 So much for that.
* Trst. “The Trieste dispute and the occupation are largely forgiven, if not forgotten.”15 To hell with that, John! Trieste is ours! Seriously though, “forgotten” is a bit too much. I think the correct phrase would be “accepted.”
(Thanks again to my nameless friend!)
- (p. 378) [back]
- (p. 449) [back]
- (ibid) [back]
- (p. 380) [back]
- (p. 392-394) Of course, no one knows how big the black market is in Slovenia but by most estimates I’ve seen, it’s formidable. [back]
- (p. 379) [back]
- (p. 400) [back]
- (p. 378) [back]
- (p. 399) “Horrifying” is, admittedly, a bit over-the-top. [back]
- (ibid) [back]
- (p. 382) [back]
- (p. 433) [back]
- (p. 410) [back]
- (p. 381) [back]
- (p. 434) [back]
Comments
Comments for this post are closed.
I am sorry to say so, but the majority of slovenes don’t even know that there is a slovene minority in Trst (not only there though). I find it a shame that in Ljubljana people are wearing T-shirts with “trst je naÅ¡” and you talk to them telling, that you are from Trst, they ask you how come you talk Slovene.
Ljubljana is shabby, eh? Everything is relative… When I first went to Slovenia as a kid (from Belgrade), I thought it was incredibly tidy and nice. Even further trips to Austria didn’t change that impression.
P.S. Trieste is not theirs! (I am reluctant to call it “ours” and get accused of Serbian hegemony
)
Cannot agree more with the shabby building issue. Glorious in the inside, but facades, streets, are needing a new paint layer since 1970… Even monumental/historic buildings are under the same ruin… pity.
Well, I sometimes do part-time jobs in tourism in the region of ex-Yugoslavia, and I can say that Zagreb is indeed in dire need of some TLC. I’m not sure I would use the word “shabby” - the words “consumed by greyness” and “depressive” come to mind. All those parks that the people of Zagreb (Zagrebians? Zagrebites? Zagrebers?) are so proud of don’t really help, when every single building around them is a dull, exhaust-pipe grey.
However, there is a new broom in town. The Zagreb mayor is obviously intent on making the town sparklier and cleaner, and the effects are visible - right now, the whole town is one huge construction site, with new roads being built and there are plans to clean and repaint the entire Austro-Hungarian part of town. And when that happens, Zagreb’s gonna be giving Ljubljana a serios run for it’s money, I’m afraid.
@mAT: sorry, man, but LJ is NOT most of Slovenia - and it’s a known fact that “city” people tend to be ignorant of what’s happening on the periphery (i.e. anywhere else but the “city”).
After visiting some Western European cities, I can say that shabbiness is not exclusively a problem of countries to the south of Vienna.
@BBNL: I can assure you that even in Koper and other places of primorska (excluding Kras) people don’t really know about Slovenes in italy. As much as people in Koper don’t have any clue, why their own city is “bilingual”. Italy is no better…a lot of people are not really sure whether Trst is in their own country or in Slovenija, or as they still think Jugoslavija!
It is indeed a pity to leave towns and cities retain their old shabby grey and dilapidate.
Stuttgart is an example of a clean, well-maintained city, but people from more “raunchy” places, like…erm…Berlin, snigger at its cleanliness, depicturing Stuttgarters as people who will yell at you for dropping things on the street, who will diligently pick up and do away with the mess/litter etc. they or someone else has left behind.
Obviously,their tidiness is a sign of a general affluence and everything else that goes with it. This attitude of caring for something is often made fun of. No wonder, it can grow into an obsession quite soon, but I think mostly it’s harmless and rather an object of envy. A class thing, maybe?
It seems that most of the people commenting here have no idea how Ljubljana looked like in the 70’s and 80’s. The description from the book is very accurate. And it used to be grey, dark, depressive… It did change a lot in the last ten years and it is getting much better. As far as Trst goes, well there are so many mystifications of this issue. It was never really Slovene as there were many nationalities living there. Let me remind everybody that the cities in what is today Slovenia were mostly run by Austrian and German population and nobility. Only much later did that change …
@mAT: Sorry, but I’m a bit offended about your statement that Ljubljanians in general don’t know a first thing about Slovene minority in Triese. It seems to me that you tend to mix the ignorant “where’s-the-next-sale” youth which is thick on the ground everywhere (and tends to migrate to Ljubljana for party reasons) and us, residents of Ljubljana, who (believe it or not) do have some vague idea about Slovene minority in East Italy (not just Trieste!) Most of all, I don’t think knowing little or much about Slovene minorities corelates to one’s geographical location. Quite to the contrary actually. We like to say that Trieste is ours, however, it would seem, that Italians believe that Ljubljana is theirs for the taking once again. There are so many of them here, as if the fascists forgot something here in 1943
@alcessa: “Vergesset’se ja net d’Kehrwoch!” (via)
Robert, exactly. Fortunately I now pay other people to do it…
The shabbiness is disconcerting
How true! Most Slovene cities are actually like that with a few bright exceptions like Celje or maybe Skofja Loka.
Ljubljana sometimes looks more like Kosovska Mitrovica.
But what really disturbs me is the traffic. Ljubljana for the past 50 years or so, ever since one exceptionally bright moron came to an idea to abolish the “tramvaj” routes, has no traffic policy. So instead of that we have “zillions” of cars running up and down the Centre of Ljubljana and parking almost everywhere where they can.
(Zagrebians? Zagrebites? Zagrebers?)
Try “Agramer”, Cornelius.
However, there is a new broom in town.
One could hardly call Milan Bandic a new broom in the town. Not with all the scandals on his tail.
The Zagreb mayor is obviously intent on making the town sparklier and cleaner, and the effects are visible - right now, the whole town is one huge construction site, with new roads being built and there are plans to clean and repaint the entire Austro-Hungarian part of town.
I don’t believe until I don’t see this. But if they would repaint the old Austrian part of the town an also modernize traffic infrastructure, which is just in a little bit better shape than ours than this will be really outstanding.
Let me remind everybody that the cities in what is today Slovenia were mostly run by Austrian and German population and nobility.
Not quite so. According to Karl Czoernig’s state statistic from 1846 there was 60% Slovenes and 40% Germans in Ljubljana and Klagenfurt (Celovec). This state statistic (actually more a poll) was the first which asked after mother tongue and was later abandoned all until 1881 when the question of mother tongue again appeared in the state census.
But you are right: cities were ruled by Germans and Italians, despite having Slovene majority. The reason why it was so is because of the election law, which divided election body into several classes or to put it in simple words: those who were financially stronger had more votes and more power. Naturally this were not Slovenes. “Slovenian fraction” did take Ljubljana only in 1881 (I think), when they won the majority during the city elections.
As much as people in Koper don’t have any clue, why their own city is “bilingual�.
This is understandable since many of the today’s inhabitants of Koper (and other coastal towns) come from other parts of Slovenia (not to mention ex-Yugoslavia), who settled there after 1950s. Very few citizens of Koper are really indigenous natives.
the ignorant “where’s-the-next-sale� youth
Ha Ha Ha!
As for the loss of Koroska and Trst: my grandfather actually fought with General Maister on Koroska and whenever he talked about the plebiscite and the loss of Koroska he talked with great saddness. Same I experienced later with my father, who was actually born in Triest, but his family later moved to Slovenia in 1955.
This is something what I believe Slovenes, especially older generation, has never really got over it, particularly the loss of Trst was very painful.
By the way: When I read Ardagh’s book some years ago I couldn’t help myself to remember one of Kenneth Branagh’s TV series called “Fortunes of War”, which he made together with his then wife Emma Thompson. A part of it which described the life of Guy pringle and his wife in Bucharest (Romania) was actually filmed in old Ljubljana.
And? Your point? Technically Slovenes never lost Trieste, because we never had it in the first place. It was never a part of Slovenia. It could have been, but it wasn’t. Same goes for Koroska. This makes the fact that the two are not within Slovene borders all the more paintful. Yes, you can claim we were cheated out of both of them, but neither was ever a part of sovereign Slovene teritory.
As for Zagreb/Ljubljana comparison… I have no trouble believeng that a city with a population of one million can be more lively than a city of 300.000 inhabitants. I guess it depends on one’s perception. My impression of Mr. Bandic is that he’s a resorcefull fellow who doesn’t like to beat around the bush. I wouldn’t exactly want him as my mayor, but hey, Zagrebians apparently like him.
I always thought Purgeri was the preferred nomenclature.
But of course it is
But isn’t calling a person from Zagreb “Purger” the same as calling someone from Ljubljana “Žabar”? Any input will be valued as it will hopefuly solve a very difficult dilemma of mine 
And? Your point? Technically Slovenes never lost Trieste, because we never had it in the first place. It was never a part of Slovenia. It could have been, but it wasn’t. Same goes for Koroska.
Technically “Slovenia” was not existing until 1945, so it would be impossible for Koroska and Trst to be a part of Slovenia.
So your point was?!
This makes the fact that the two are not within Slovene borders all the more paintful.
Does it? Personally for me it would get painful if this would be a result of some “higher force”, but it was not. It was a result of our own incompetence and chosing the wrong side. Again.
My impression of Mr. Bandic is that he’s a resorcefull fellow who doesn’t like to beat around the bush.
Yes, he has a “resourcefulness” of Mr. Jankovic. Sometimes above the law, sometimes along the law.
Ah, you’re making a political point… Sorry, did’t see it at first. It must have been hiding somewhere between the lines.
Who say that Trst,Gorica, KoroÅ¡ka and BeneÅ¡ka Slovenija… wasn’t our. It’s true that there wasn’t Slovenija jet, but there were mostly Slovenian population at that time.
Trst je naš !!!
Can’t speak for Ljubljana, but I think that dig at Zagreb’s cleanliness was rather cheap. Zagreb, especially during the summer, is very clean. It helps that half of the population is down on the sea, littering there, I guess. The graffiti is there as in Ljubljana, which is a shame fo r both places.
One major difference in the last 20-30 years? In the 1970’s everyone and his uncle were in Import/Export. Nowadays, it seems everyone is in Konstrukcija. Yep, perpetual construction, by my last visit to Zagreb.
Beneška Slovenija… wasn’t our. It’s true that there wasn’t Slovenija jet, but there were mostly Slovenian population at that time.
Slovenian language… not population.
Ciao