The City of Counts and Graffiti

As I began to walk from the Stadion, which is among fans of different sports known under different names – Zlatorog (the Golden Horn) to some, Arena Petrol to others – towards the old city center, graffiti were the fist thing that caught my eye. Graffiti that besides artistic imagery of street painting and scribbles of penises and swastikas, spelled out the word “counts.” I found it interesting that the Celje youth would be so proud of its medieval past that it would graffiti allusions to the Counts of Celje. It is indeed a dynasty that was incredibly important for the Slovene nation. They were, after all, the only true noble family in the Slovene lands. And they were not just petty upstarts. Within the feudal system of the Habsburg Monarchy they were the vasals to the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Hungary himself. One of the counts, Herman the Second, saved his life in a battle with the Ottomans on account of which the Emperor gave him the title of a Prince. In line with the Slovenian humility, Herman the Second continued to style himself merely a count. In spite of the historical importance of the Counts of Celje, the graffiti turned out to not to be referring to them. They instead give testament to another important Celje tradition: sport. Like the “Violas” in Maribor and Green Dragons in Ljubljana, Celje too has a fan club of its own, namely, the Counts. They might be known for causing discord, but their presence, nonetheless, shows the immense pride felt by the people of the city towards their athletes. Football and volleyball are important disciplines that reside in the city, and they are especially strong in handball.

Even the old Roman were known to have without any measure of respect painted their rulers in a variety of socially unacceptable situations. The Emperor Nero, for example, was commonly depicted as performing coitus with his mother. Political graffiti did not become any more tasteful in the past two millennia, but a new branch of street painting has developed from them; one that can safely be called art. Celje was founded by the decree of Nero’s adopted son and successor, Claudius, which can be seen reflected in the very name of the city. During the days of the Roman Empire, Celje was one of the wealthiest cities in the realm. All the while its prosperity was a telling sign that the city existed during the zenith of the Empire, reaching its peak under the Emperor Trajan (whose name and the size of his empire are likely to have inspired the name for the Trojane doughnuts). From these glorious times, before the Hunic invasions began, the city kept many ruins that to this day dictate its urban scheme. One of the beautiful landmarks, the Water Tower was part of a wall that was built later, during the High Middle Age, when Celje received its city rights. The medieval building is beautiful and the entire street is paved with stone and covered with ivy, truly giving one a feeling of having walked into a 15th century alley. All that’s missing is the contents of chamber pots falling from the windows. The opposite to this antique street is the modern graffiti street. Incredibly, Celje is one of the only cities in the country that accepts graffiti as an art form. Further, if street artists wish to paint here they have to abide by certain standards of quality. There is something extraordinary in these streets where medieval and Roman past meets with the modern times. To make the asymmetry even bigger, a street that leads there is a home to the headquarters of a well-known punk band situated next to the offices of one of the Slovene conservative parties.

They say that it often happens that a young couple arranged to meet up for a date at the Star, only to find themselves on the opposite ends of the city in the decisive moment. The Star as a rendezvous is problematic for at least two reasons. Firstly, there are two spots in Celje called the Star. One of the is the Star on the Floor, a mosaic in the old city center located next to an old well. Its foundations were laid in the times of the Antiquity, but the structure itself comes from a period between the Middle and the New Age. The second spot is a private gastronomical and drinking establishment. Thus it is a common occurrence that lovers find themselves separated on the date night, contemplating in a disappointed manner as to why they have been stood up. The second reason why this traditional place of meeting up for dates is unusual at best is that according to an urban legend the person who will step on the Star on the Floor will have bad luck in love, which is a risk barely acceptable at the start of a date. Other than that, Celje is a city full of a variety of destination where one might enjoy a date. Culturally very sensitive city, it is full of galleries and small book shops. One of the more interesting cultural spots is located on the other side of the River Savinja. It is the Temple of Hercules; a bunch of Roman ruins among which the most impressive is a still standing Doric pillar. Near by there is the Capuchin Church as well. A wooden staircase leads up to it, the exact number of stairs in it, remains a mystery among the city children (several numbers have been proposed but none of them has been so far proven).  From the church courtyardwe can see the entirety of Celje stretching into the distance, with the remains of the castle atop of the hill. The people of Celje say that it is truly a shame that only its bad side is seen from the city itself; all of its glory reserved for those driving towards it. 

Celje is a city divided not by its politics or ideologies, but by its educational institutions. Which kindergarten, elementary school or high school one visited is a question central to the Celje lifestyle and will define your relationships and friendships. What is interesting about this is that these institutions rarely bare the name of a famous person. Maybe this is because the people of Celje respect their respectable people too much to divide them between two or more sides. Two of them are especially revered in their collective memories; the writer and traveler Alma Karlin, and the photographer Josip Pelikan. Alma Karlin, especially, was a truly amazing personage and it is a real shame that Hollywood hasn’t made a blockbuster based around her life yet. She spoke twelve languages and travelled across the entirety of Europe; from Slovenia to Scandinavia, Great Britain and France. Despite being an academic by heart, she encountered problems everywhere she went. The bulk of her travels took place in the early twentieth century, during the time of the First World War and because she was technically speaking an Austrian woman she ended up being a persona non grata both in the U.K. and in France. Her body of work boasts everything from dictionaries to works of fiction, and she was even nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. A monument to her stands in front of the Celje train station, depicting her returning from her travels to her home town. Josip Pelikan was a photographer of Czech heritage who was, despite the fact he eventually settled in Celje, important for the whole of Slovenia. He was a highly skilled photographer, well versed in all aspects of his craft and when he eventually set up shop in Celje he dedicated his life to documenting the surroundings of the city. He photographed both world wars and the peace between them, and was a truly an all-Slovenian artist.

In the historic center of Celje one can also find one of our hostels, Hostel Celje. There those of you who wish to spent the night in this ancient city, rest on the Roman streets.

 

Celje is truly a city of opposites. Whether it be the contentions between sports fans, loyal to different athletic disciplines, or people who attended different kindergartens. This, though, is not a bad thig, as this is a city where the past meets the present, where the unstoppable spirit of the young coexists with the immovable ways of the former generations. It is a city where nature and architecture meet, where the locals who left for the brave new world are honored in the same way as the ones who have come from the wide world and settled there. It is a city divided, since it gives everyone an equal opportunity. Which might be the reasons why it is so hard to leave it behind.