August 7, 1897 – opening of the Celje National Hall

At the beginning of 1897, the construction of the National Hall was almost complete. The Loan Company could have opened the building in the winter, but at the request of the Celje Sokol, it postponed the opening to a later date. In April, they decided to hold a joint event to open the National Hall and bless the Celje Sokol flag. They formed a joint committee to prepare the celebration. The Loan Company covered the costs of the band and the banquet. Applications were made to the city office and the district government, but they opposed the events. The most controversial was the procession with unfurled banners to the National Hall and from there to the festive area at Spodnji Lanovž.

The Germans prevented the procession through the city and the reception in carriages at the railway station, but despite everything, there were a great many guests who came to the National House by other routes. Saturday, 7th and Sunday, 8th August, were set for the celebration. The program of the celebration was slowly shaped by the sessions of the celebration committee. The first dinner was a ceremonial academy in the great hall of the National House, at which the director of the Ljubljana Theatre Innemann read the prologue by Anton Funtek. The prologue, which was also published in Domovina, was read in an abridged form. Namely, the Regency deleted the text in two places, “oh Celje, white Celje, the seat of Slovenian Styria” and “on our own land we are masters, but a stranger be a guest, never a lord!”. The Ljubljana Dramatic Society performed Vrchlicki’s comedy In Diogenes’s Barrel, translated by Fran Gestrin. The rest of the evening was dedicated to music. The Zagreb Fire Brigade played and three choirs sang. The Ilirija Quartet and the Slavec Choir came from Ljubljana, and a mixed choir from Šentjur. The program was varied.

The next day, all the associations gathered in the National Hall, from where they marched to the ceremonial area, where Abbot Ogradi blessed the Celje Sokol flag. After the ceremonies of driving nails into the flag and greetings to the godmother of the flag and the touching of the flags, the associations returned to the National Hall for the unveiling of the commemorative plaque and the ceremonial opening of the building.

Source: Tatjana Kač, They played, sang and danced – in short, they had fun. Celje zbornik, 1897, pp. 56-57

 

More about the opening of the Celje National House can be found in the contributions to the thematic annual Celje Anthology 1997.
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