The Heartbeat of Bled Through Postcards
From 2 February to 31 March, the Bitenc Hall at Bled Castle will host an exhibition of vintage postcards depicting Bled and its surroundings. The exhibition is a collaboration between the Bled Culture Institute, the Anton Tomaž Linhart Library Radovljica - Unit Bled, and the ethnologist Janez Fajfar.
The postcards on display capture the heartbeat of Bled and the landscape around it. Featuring over one hundred postcards, the exhibition reflects the shifting rhythms of social life, the economy, architecture, tourism and sport in a period spanning more than a century. Postcards are selected from the public collection of the Blaž Kumerdej Library in Bled, as well as from the treasured private collections of individual collectors.
As ethnologist Janez Fajfar points out:
“Given that Bled was hailed as 'an image of paradise' by Slovenia's greatest poet, France Prešeren, it comes as no surprise that the first postcard mailed from the Slovenian territory was post-stamped in Bled, in 1889. This exhibition also brings together many other rarely seen scenes from the area. In short, it captures the heartbeat of Bled, past and present.”
The postcards carry visitors back to a time when Bled was different, yet unfailingly enchanting. The images include that of a frozen Lake Bled, long-vanished villas shown in their finest splendour, and scenes of everyday life that bear witness to the rich history of tourism and sport, as well as to the changes that have shaped this place over time.
You are warmly invited to attend the exhibition opening, which will take place on Wednesday, 4 February, at 17:00 in the Bitenc Hall at Bled Castle. The exhibition will be presented by Damjan Mulej, Head of the Blaž Kumerdej Library in Bled, and Janez Fajfar.