Lipa pamti – memorial centre

lipa-pamti-logoLipa is a small village on the Croatian side of the Slovenian-Croatian border in the municipality of Matulji. On Sunday 30th April 1944 it was the scene of a horrific retaliatory attack by the occupying Nazi German forces trying to quell the Partisan resistance in which 269 men, women, children and old people were killed, the village ransacked and their houses torched.

lipa german fotosOne eyewitness’s account:

“Here is where a terrible massacre took place when they burned people alive. About 260 people were slaughtered. On the following days, 1st, 2nd, 3rd May they collected the corpses from the village and transported them down to a little house into which they were stuffed and also burnt.”

 

After World War II the village was partially rebuilt whilst some buildings were left as ruins. In the 1960s a memorial building was established and in April 2015 it was reopened after a complete refurbishment and redesign by designers Gamulin & Sevšek as the Memorijalni centar Lipa pamti  (the Lipa Remembers Memorial Centre).

memorial centre lipaInside is a modern museum space which tells the story of Lipa and the surrounding area, the events of 1944 as well as a growing ethnographic collection.

pic courtesy of Novi list

pic courtesy of Novi list

I provided the English translations of some of the exhibition’s captions and documentation on behalf of the municipality of Matulji and the museum organisers PPMHP.

lip pamti interior museumYou can find more info on the memorial centre’s website here.

DE-helmets-lipaPhotos by Damir Gamulin, PPMHP, Novi list, German State Archives.

The Sails of Kvarner – catalogue translation

Jedra Kvarnera (The Sails of Kvarner) is a permanent exhibition at The Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral Rijeka (PPMHP).
The exhibition presents an historical overview of the development of the shipping industry and shipbuilding in the region of the Northern Adriatic in the period from Late Antiquity, through the Mediaeval development of the shipping industry of the Eastern Adriatic and the Modern Age, to the beginning of the 20th century.

jedra kvarnera sails of kvarnerI provided the English translation of the accompanying catalogue which features a snapshot of the exhibits on show and a description of the sections of the exhibition such as the types of vessels, navigational and ship equipment, paintings of ships, anchors and the history of the shipping industry in the Northern Adriatic, Kvarner and Rijeka areas.

You can find more info at the museum’s website: PPMHP

 

Rijeka’s Shipping Industry in the 20th Century exhibition

online-exhibitionA new exhibition describing the shipping industry in the city of Rijeka in the 20th century has opened at PPMHP Pomorski i povijesni muzej Hrvatskog primorja Rijeka (the Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral in Rijeka). I translated the exhibition’s content, website and promotional material into English.

“It all began with the Hrvat. A little steamship built for Senjsko Brodarsko Društvo (the Senj Shipping Society), which linked Rijeka and Senj, and a revolution in the thoughts of Rijeka’s ship owners and the attitude towards the steamship industry began…..”

…. are the opening words by the exhibition’s author, senior curator, Nikša Mendeš which lead the visitor through the story of Rijeka’s shipping industry over 100+ years of the highs and lows of its existence. Through the varying governing powers and through two world wars. The port was once a leading mover in European ship transportation stretching around the world with its shipping companies such as Jadranska Plovidba, Jugoslavenska Oceanska Plovidba Sušak and later Jugolinija and Croatia Line.

steamship-Kornat-in-Venice

The Jugolinija company’s ship ‘Kornat’ in Venice. One of the many vessels detailed in the exhibition.

The exhibition features models of the ships, ships’ logs, diaries of sailors, large format photographs, drawings, paintings and all manner of documents and equipment associated with Rijeka’s shipping industry.

All kinds of drawings, models and photographs enhance the exhibition.

All kinds of drawings, models and photographs enhance the exhibition.

exhibition-opening3Also interesting is the fact that the museum’s holding of memorabilia, documents, photography etc. has now been digitalised meaning that you can also virtually visit this exhibition via the museum’s website here.

The exhibition is on show in the museum in the Governor’s Palace in Rijeka until December 2014. More info on the museum’s website here.

Interested in diving the wrecks of the Adriatic Sea? Click here.

Titanic centenary – Rijeka connection

It was on the fateful night of the 14-15th April 1912 that the British passenger liner the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg, 375 miles from the coast of New Foundland in the North Altantic, and sank on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City.

Did you know that there is a connection between the Titanic and the city of Rijeka? (at that time known as ‘Fiume’, within the Austro-Hungarian Empire)

RMS Titanic

The connection is another liner the RMS Carpathia. This ship travelled regularly between Rijeka and New York when it would transport immigrants seeking a new life in America.

RMS Carpathia

On the night of the 14-15th April 1912 the Titanic sent out SOS distress calls for help after colliding with an ice berg which the Carpathia, which was at that time travelling from New York to Rijeka then picked-up and headed to its assistance. The Carpathia managed to save over 700 people (a handful of whom were Croats) from the icy waters who had escaped the sinking. Unfortunately the other 1,500 or so passengers and crew perished.

One crew member of the Carpathia, a Croat, Josip Car, held onto to a life jacket from one of the survivors of the Titanic and this historical item was later donated after his death to the Maritime and History Museum in Rijeka (PPMHP)

Titanic life jacket held in the Maritime and Historical Museum of the Croatian Littoral in Rijeka

There are several commemorative events of this tragic maritime event being held in the UK (where both ships were built) as well as an exhibition being staged at the Maritime and Historical Museum of the Croatian Littoral in Rijeka.

The Peek & Poke Computer Museum in Rijeka also held a special event until 15th April 2012 on the Arca Fiumana boat, moored on Rijeka’s waterfront entitled ‘Carpathia 2012’: http://www.peekpoke.hr

For a superb selection of photographs visit: British Pathe collection

Titanic footage and survivors interviews. On 14 April 1912, on her maiden voyage, the passenger liner RMS Titanic hit an iceberg. More than 1500 men, women and children perished. This is a short television documentary about the sinking of the Titanic, including interviews with survivors talking about their experiences and their escape.

****

Official commemorative postage stamps from the UK

RMS Titanic Centenary postage stamps

More info visit https://www.benham.co.uk/pd/Titanic-30th-Anniversary-of-Discovery-of-the-Wreck-GB-Customised-Stamp-Sheet_GBS0255.htm

PPMHP, Rijeka, Apoxiomen, Apoxyomenos

Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral – Rijeka.

The Croatian Apoxyomenos

The Croatian Apoxyomenos – on show in Rijeka 2008 – photo by Martin Mayhew

Iz Lošinjskog podmorja: antički brodolom kod Ilovika – Apoxiomen, Apoxyomenos or apoksiomen. My designs for the exhibition – five panels designed to accompany the first showing of the Croatian Apoxyomenos at the Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral Rijeka, in April 2008.

podmorje ppmhp5 podmorje ppmhp4 podmorje ppmhp3 podmorje ppmhp2 podmorje ppmhp1Here is the magnificent bronze statue himself….

The Croatian Apoxyomenos

The Croatian Apoxyomenos – on show in Rijeka 2008 – photo by Martin Mayhew

The Croatian Apoxyomenos

The Croatian Apoxyomenos – on show in Rijeka 2008 – photo by Martin Mayhew

The Croatian Apoxyomenos

The Croatian Apoxyomenos – on show in Rijeka 2008 – photo by Martin Mayhew

http://www.ppmhp.hr
Pomorski i povijesni muzej Hrvatskog primorja Rijeka

Diving in the Adriatic..