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Franja Hospital (Slovenia)
No 1088
1. BASIC DATA
State Party: Republic of Slovenia
Name of property: Franja Partisan Hospital
Location: Municipality of Cerkno
Date received: 22 January 2002
Category of property:
In terms of the categories of cultural property set out in
Article 1 of the 1972 World Heritage Convention, this is a
monument.
Brief description:
The Franja Partisan Hospital in southern Slovenia was
built for the cure of wounded soldiers during the Second
World War. It was the largest of such facilities in the
former Yugoslavia, and is located in a narrow gorge in the
mountain region to keep it secret during the war. It consists
of a group of wooden cabins made in available material,
and still preserves the furniture and equipment.
2. THE PROPERTY
Description
The Franja Partisan Hospital is situated in the hilly Cerkno
region, which is full of small valleys, ravines and glens
carved by the Cerknica River and its tributaries. The
Hospital lies in the gorge of the Cerinscica stream, which
discharges into the Cerknica River near Novaki. The
complex was built in the narrowest part of a limestone glen
with steep, high walls and in the midst of a dense forest.
The Hospital is a cluster of functionally arranged hospital
facilities. It is comprised of 18 facilities, of which 13 are
wooden cabins that were gradually built in the period from
December 1943 to May 1945. During the war, the hospital
was among the best equipped clandestine partisan
hospitals, and had a surgery room, X-ray apparatus, an
invalid care facility, and even a small electric plant. Most
of the equipment is preserved in situ.
To ensure maximum concealment of the hospital and the
secrecy of access to it, the wounded were blindfolded and
carried to the hospital only by the hospital staff. The cabin
roofs were covered with branches in order to prevent their
being seen from the air, and in winter the roofs were
covered with snow. The cabin exteriors were painted with
a protective camouflage painting in the colour shades of
rocks and shadows projecting on rocks. Smoke, which
proved to be a major problem in some hospitals because it
could be seen from afar, was here dispersed among the
rocks and bushes covering several hundred metre-high
cliffs. The noise in the hospital, which functioned like a
miniature village, was stifled by the torrential stream.
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History
The territory of Slovenia formed part of the Austro-
Hungarian Empire until the end of World War I. After the
disintegration of this Empire, the Primorska region, in
which the Franja Partisan Hospital is located, was annexed
to the Kingdom of Italy under the Rappal Treaty in 1920.
On 6 April, 1941, Germany, Italy and Hungary occupied
the remainder of Slovenia, which formed part of the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and divided it among themselves.
As members of a nation whose further existence was
threatened by occupiers, the Slovenes responded to the call
for resistance and joined a mass political organisation and
resistance movement known as ‘the Liberation Front’
(OF). This applied in particular for Slovenes in the
Primorska region, who had lived under fascism since 1922
and at least since 1926 suffered harsh national and even
social oppression (prohibition of Slovene books and use of
the Slovene language in public, forced change of name,
destruction of gravestones, etc.).
Named after Dr. Franja Bojc-Bidovec, who served as the
hospital’s administrator for the longest period, the Franja
Partisan Hospital is one of several clandestine hospitals
established by the Partisan Resistance Movement during
the last years of World War II in different parts of former
Yugoslavia.
Partisan health services began to develop in this part of
Slovenia after the capitulation of Italy on 8 September,
1943, when the first improvised hospitals were set up in
the surroundings of Cerkno, particularly on solitary farms.
In the period following the capitulation of Italy (September
1943) until the German offensive in October of the same
year, a extensive liberated territory existed in this area,
with several larger armed partisan units. During the
offensive it became evident that military units could not
carry their wounded members with them or transfer them
to hospitals in other regions, as this resulted in too many
casualties. It was thus decided that a clandestine hospital
would be built in the Primorska region as well. The Pasice
Gorge near the village of Dolenji Novaki, where wounded
soldiers and sanitary materials had already been
successfully hidden during the offensive, was selected as
the location of the clandestine hospital. By 23 December,
1943 the first cabin was built and the first wounded
soldiers brought there for treatment. The cabin was the
initial core of the partisan hospital; the last construction
was completed in May 1945. The hospital operated
without being discovered until the Liberation.
Management regime
Legal provision:
The land of the Franja Partisan Hospital is owned by the
local community (Municipality of Cerkno). The roads,
routes and water courses are public property, while the
remaining land in the protected area is privately owned.
The Franja Partisan Hospital was declared a cultural
monument by the Decision of the Government Council of
the Peoples’ Republic of Slovenia for Education and
Culture published under No. 36 in 1952. The Municipality
of Idrija adopted in 1986 a special decree to protect the
hospital as a cultural and historical monument. In 1999, on
the basis of the Law on the Protection of Cultural Heritage