Page 112 - Dark Shades of Istria
P. 112
Memories and Dark Tourism in Istria
was additionally complemented by exhibits linked to the war in the Upper
Adriatic (Urošević, 2003), which made the museum even more relevant
and attractive.
After the Second Battle of the Piave River (in Northern Italy), fought
between 15 and 23 June 1918, the Italian army came to Istria, which was
– in the cities populated mostly by Italians – accepted with pleasure and
celebration (Benussi, 1923; Perović, 2006, p. 185).¹³ On the other hand,
a kind of indifference, depression and resignation prevailed among the
Slovenians and the Croats, especially those from the rural and ethnically
mixed areas of Pula, Poreč and Koper (Klabjan, 2010, p. 410). Officially,
the Kingdom of Italy had already begun to implement its authority before
1920, when Istria and most of the rest of the Austrian Littoral was formally
annexed to the Kingdom. On 3 February 1919, the King of Italy came to
Pula for the first time and visiting the Arsenal was also on his schedule.
With particular interest, the king visited the Maritime Museum, where
he admired the Venetian flag waving in the battle of Lepanto and the nu-
mismatic collection; ship warehouses and naval warehouses were shown
to him as well, and he was deeply astonished by the huge amount of mate-
rial accumulated there (Marsetič, 2006a). However, the demilitarisation
of the city also caused the closing down of the Arsenal (not entirely), in-
cluding the Maritime museum established in 1870/71. This symbolically
meant an interruption of the maritime continuity and identity of the city,
as well as the erasing of traces of power of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
Considering that the museum as an institution preserved and presented
past traditions and memories, then the elements of damnatio memoriae
are clearly recognisable here. The exhibits were either stolen or formally
transferred to other museums, most of them to Austrian ones (Vienna) –
some of them as early as in 1913, when the huge Adriatic Exhibition in Vi-
enna (Österreichische Adria-Ausstellung 1913) took place – and after wwi
to some Italian museums (Gobbo, 2017; Urošević, 2003).¹⁴
In a situation where an ethnic borderline separating the winners from
the losers was unclear, in the post-war years, the new authorities began
to construct imposing monuments and memorial parks to anti-Austro-
¹³ These events were certainly not of a tourist nature.
¹⁴ Urošević’s findings are based on an interview with the manager of the Historical and
Maritime Museum of Istria (Pula). According to Gobbo (2017), the Museo Tecnico Navale
della Spezia in La Spezia, the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia in Milano
and a museum in Padova are now in possession of the exhibits from Pula.
112
was additionally complemented by exhibits linked to the war in the Upper
Adriatic (Urošević, 2003), which made the museum even more relevant
and attractive.
After the Second Battle of the Piave River (in Northern Italy), fought
between 15 and 23 June 1918, the Italian army came to Istria, which was
– in the cities populated mostly by Italians – accepted with pleasure and
celebration (Benussi, 1923; Perović, 2006, p. 185).¹³ On the other hand,
a kind of indifference, depression and resignation prevailed among the
Slovenians and the Croats, especially those from the rural and ethnically
mixed areas of Pula, Poreč and Koper (Klabjan, 2010, p. 410). Officially,
the Kingdom of Italy had already begun to implement its authority before
1920, when Istria and most of the rest of the Austrian Littoral was formally
annexed to the Kingdom. On 3 February 1919, the King of Italy came to
Pula for the first time and visiting the Arsenal was also on his schedule.
With particular interest, the king visited the Maritime Museum, where
he admired the Venetian flag waving in the battle of Lepanto and the nu-
mismatic collection; ship warehouses and naval warehouses were shown
to him as well, and he was deeply astonished by the huge amount of mate-
rial accumulated there (Marsetič, 2006a). However, the demilitarisation
of the city also caused the closing down of the Arsenal (not entirely), in-
cluding the Maritime museum established in 1870/71. This symbolically
meant an interruption of the maritime continuity and identity of the city,
as well as the erasing of traces of power of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
Considering that the museum as an institution preserved and presented
past traditions and memories, then the elements of damnatio memoriae
are clearly recognisable here. The exhibits were either stolen or formally
transferred to other museums, most of them to Austrian ones (Vienna) –
some of them as early as in 1913, when the huge Adriatic Exhibition in Vi-
enna (Österreichische Adria-Ausstellung 1913) took place – and after wwi
to some Italian museums (Gobbo, 2017; Urošević, 2003).¹⁴
In a situation where an ethnic borderline separating the winners from
the losers was unclear, in the post-war years, the new authorities began
to construct imposing monuments and memorial parks to anti-Austro-
¹³ These events were certainly not of a tourist nature.
¹⁴ Urošević’s findings are based on an interview with the manager of the Historical and
Maritime Museum of Istria (Pula). According to Gobbo (2017), the Museo Tecnico Navale
della Spezia in La Spezia, the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia in Milano
and a museum in Padova are now in possession of the exhibits from Pula.
112
