energiJa Vode the energY of Water - Salon Slovenija

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tradicionalno/traditional
Marjeta privšek arhiv / archive TiC Veržej, arhiv / archive inter-m Melinci
reKa in
lJudJe
Plavajoči mlini na Muri
the river
and itS
PeoPle
Floating Mills on the Mura
po zasanjani ravnici pomurja, pokrajine
na skrajnem severovzhodu Slovenije,
ubira svojo pot reka Mura. V avstriji
izvira kot gorska reka, a se kmalu razlije
po ravnini in skozi Slovenijo, hrvaško in
Madžarsko odvijuga kot počasna nižinska
reka, dokler se ne združi z reko dravo na
skupni poti proti donavi in Črnemu morju.
Mura neprestano spreminja svojo strugo, se cepi v rečne rokave,
dela mrtvice, poplavlja gozdove in s tem ustvarja eksplozijo
neštetih oblik življenja – naš najbogatejši ekosistem, loko. Je
edina večja slovenska reka, ki ji zaenkrat na svojih bregovih še
uspeva ohranjati naravno dinamiko.
Še nedolgo nazaj je ljudem predstavljala nepredvidljivo naravno
silo, ki so jo spoštovali in se je bali. ko je poplavljala, je s seboj
odnašala vse, kar ji je stopilo na pot: brodove, mline, hrano,
življenja … prebivalci ob Muri so trepetali pred mogočnim
nadnaravnim bitjem, Murskim duhom, a so znali živeti z reko,
se ji prilagoditi in se z njo spoprijeti v boju za zemljo. z dolgimi
The dreamy plain of pomurje gets its name
from the river Mura, which slowly makes
its way across the north-eastern corner of
Slovenia. The Mura originates in austrian
alps, however, on reaching the plain it soon
slackens its pace, meandering leisurely
through Slovenia, Croatia and hungary as a
placid lowland river, before joining forces with
the drava on their way towards the danube
and the black Sea.
The Mura keeps changing its channel, splitting into river branches, creating
stagnant waterholes, flooding woodlands and causing a veritable explosion
of countless life forms in the process, thereby producing the richest
ecosystem in existence in Slovenia. it is the only major Slovenian river
whose banks continue to maintain their natural dynamics.
even recently the Mura was perceived by the people as an unpredictable,
terrifying force of nature, which commanded both fear and respect.
When flooding, it would take everything that would inadvertently get in
babičev mlin, Veržej/Babič’s mill veržej
snopi vej in kamenjem so utrjevali bregove, temu so rekli büjranje,
junakom, ki so opravljali to nevarno in težko delo, pa büjraši. pred
desetletji so büjraše zamenjali traktorji in bagri, ki so z modernim
načinom regulacije reke začeli vztrajno spreminjati dotedanji
način življenja reke, bregov in ljudi.
Plavajoči mlini, posebnost panonske pokrajine
Mura že dolga stoletja pozna plavajoče mline, mogočne
konstrukcije z mlinskim kolesom med dvema velikima čolnoma,
s klini in jeklenimi vrvmi vpete na obrežje. S takimi mlini ljudje
niso posegali v tok reke, le spremljali so ga in se mu prilagajali.
ko je reka narasla in poplavljala, se je z gladino vred dvignilo tudi
mlinsko kolo, ki bi ga sicer voda preplavila ali odnesla.
Še na začetku 20. stoletja je po nekaterih podatkih na Muri
mlelo žito več kot sto mlinov. do današnjih dni je preživel le eden,
babičev mlin v Veržeju, ki je zaščiten kot dragocena tehniška
dediščina. Mlinarska hiša na obrežju, povezana s pogonskim
kolesom na dveh čolnih, prijazno odpira vrata obiskovalcem vse
dni v tednu.
its path: boats, mills, supplies, lives… The people along the river
lived in constant trepidation of the mighty supernatural being, the
Spirit of Mura, however they also knew how to get along with the
river, adjust to its ways and fight it for land. rocks and long stacks of
branches were typically used to fortify the riverbanks; this was called
“bürjanje” while the men performing this hard and dangerous job
were called “bürjaši”. it has now been several decades since bürjaši
were replaced by tractors and excavators as modern river regulation
initiated a slow but relentless process of change, steadily eroding
the old ways of the river, its banks and the people.
floating mills, a distinctive feature of the Panonian plain
people have been building floating mills on the Mura for many
centuries. essentially, a floating mill is a heavy-duty structure
featuring a mill wheel between two large boats, anchored to the
riverbank by means of steel pegs and ropes. This way, it did not
interfere with the course of the river but simply went with the flow.
as the river swelled and flooded, the mill wheel would simply rise
with the water instead of being submerged or swept away.
according to some sources, over one hundred floating mills on the
Mura were still used to grind grain at the turn of the 20th century.
however, only one has survived to the present day: babič’s mill