Prešeren, The Vienna Slovenija Society and the Graz Triglav Society. Prešeren Celebrations in Vienna and Graz in the Final Decades of 19th Century

Abstract

The article describes the Prešeren celebrations organised by Slovene students in Vienna and Graz between 1864 and 1900 and draws attention to Prešeren’s growing importance in the second half of the nineteenth century. If in the 1850s Prešeren was still in competition with Valentin Vodnik, by the end of the nineteenth century his status as the greatest Slovene poet was undisputed. Slovene students in Vienna and Graz were among the first to give precedence to Prešeren over Vodnik. The first event honouring Prešeren’s memory in Vienna took place in 1864. The first such event in Graz was held in 1866. Most Prešeren commemorations in Vienna were organised by the academic society Slovenija (est. 1869), while in Graz it was the student society Triglav (est. 1875) that organised the bulk of these events. The article presents the programmes of individual Prešeren commemorations, listing the prominent figures and representatives of other Slav associations and societies who attended these events, covering the principal emphases of keynote speeches, as well as some reactions to these events. It also draws attention to the relatively uncritical reporting of events of a national character.