“It is Largely Owing to Me that Triglav Remained in Slovene Hands.” Jakob Aljaž and His Mountaineering Activities in the Triglav Mountain Range

Abstract

In 1895 Jakob Aljaž, a parish priest at dovje, purchased the summit of triglav and subse- quently erected a nearly two-metre high and a good metre in diameter wide steel tower. In the decades to come, the tower that was instantly referred to as the Aljaž tower became for the majority of slovenes a national symbol and an official cultural monument of the republic of slovenia. in its initial period the tower induced german-slovene rivalry over the mountains. the erection of the tower was not Jakob Aljaž’s only achievement in the triglav mountain range in the battle for the mountains. In 1896, he also built two huts—on Kredarica and in the Vrata valley—thereby rocking german mountaineering societies that were active on slovene soil. they attempted to hinder his constructions, and once the buildings were finished, to have them demo- lished also by means of lawsuits. Aljaž managed to win all lawsuits and the tower along with the huts remained intact.