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SUMMARY I V A N E C SUPPLEMENTS TO THE HISTORY OF IVANEC UNTIL 1940 is a contribution to the celebration of the 600th anniversary of this "old village", as it was nicknamed by the great authority on the history of Zagorje, Prof. Gjuro Szabo in the late thirties of this century. It has been 600 years since Ivanec was mentioned for the first time in a written document by Ivan Paližna the younger on 22 June 1396. By this document earlier privileges are being confirmed to the inhabitants of Ivanec, so we can be justified in thinking that the village existed at least 100 years earlier. The book begins with the account of geologic formation of the Ivanec region and the mountain Ivančica (1,061 metres) which is connected with the geologic formation of the Northwest Croatia. In the ancient history, about 400 million years ago, Croatia was covered by the sea, on the bottom of which huge quantities of fossils of various forms of sea-life were being layered. During this long period thick layers of sediment rocks were being formed, their thickness being estimated to more than 10,000 metres. ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS IN IVANEC deals with the discovery by Stjepan Vuković in 1939. A site from the Old Stone Age was discovered in the fields, deeply cut-into furrows and water-worn ravines in the place of today's village of Punikve east of Ivanec. A collection of the Old Stone Age tools was discovered scattered on the ground. These were the oldest hand-made tools ever discovered in Croatia. Their age is estimated to 500,000 years, which makes this find significant even within the boundaries of Europe. Other significant archaeological finds in the area include caves Vindija by Donja Voća and Mačkova špilja on the slopes of Ravna gora by the village of Goranec. Wider area of Ivanec abounds in numerous finds from the New Stone Age. A great number of archaeological finds proves that the area north of Ivančica was a permanent habitat of man and a centre of human activity for generations of people since the dawn of humanity until the Roman civilisation, the region where nations met and created material and spiritual heritage until our own history. IVANEC UNTIL ITS FIRST MENTION IN 1396 deals with the formation and development of the village. Ivanec came into existence in connection with the order of St. John of Jerusalem, Fratres hospitalis sancti Johannis Iherosolimitani. This order came to Croatia in the middle of the 12th century, while the first written record of their presence here goes back to 1201. They owned villages from both left and right sides of the Bednja valley: Bela, Margečan, Seljanec, Ružakovec, Završje, Škriljevec and Osečka, and a little bit further Lovrečan, Cerje Tužno, Jurketinec, Gačice, Lukavec, Stažnjevec, Vitešinec, Šaturnjak, Punikve, Prigorec, Ivanec and Vuglovec. Ivan Paližna the younger acted as the abbot of the monastery of Vrana from 1392. He had his seat in the castle of Bela on Ivančica in 1396. His name remains connected in historical records with the document which settles the position of old and new residents in the free borough of St. John. This document is also the first written record which mentions Ivanec. By the middle of the 16th century Ivanec was the part of a large estate whose centre was the castle of Bela, owned by the Templars and the order of St. John. SECULAR OWNERSHIP OF IVANEC starts with the middle of the 15th century. Bela and Ivanec were sold for 5,600 gold coins to counts Ladislav, Tomo and Franjo Petheö de Gerse around 1500. Ivanec and the surrounding area were owned by this Hungarian family until 1738. Brothers Petheö de Gerse became owners of the villages of Ivanec, Prigorec, Punikve, Vuglovec and Lovrečan (today's Gečkovec) and until 1588 they had built a castle. Ivanec was their administrative centre and family seat. The old castle of Ivanec was built for defence purposes, but it had the grandeur of an aristocratic palace. It consisted of four circular wings. It was built on a strategically convenient site, so access to Ivanec could be controlled from all directions. Benedikt and Ladislav Petheö who owned Ivanec and Bela at the time did not accept the importance of the document from 1396, confirmed in 1421 according to which the inhabitants of Ivanec had to pay impost and do less villeinage service. They rebelled for that reason in 1568 and 1569 and to a certain extent they managed to reduce the amount of annuity they had to pay. Counts Petheö and the neighbouring noblemen did not recognise the privileges of the residents of Ivanec and regarded them as ordinary villainies. Ivan Petheö de Gerse, the last male descendant of the family died in Ivanec on 16 December 1728. He left the estate in a poor condition and greatly indebted. The estates Bela, Ivanec and Jurketinec were sold to count Ladislav Erdödy of Novi Marof. He had brought the estate farm in order, filled the ditches around the castle with water, built the second floor and renovated the castle itself. Despite this, the Erdödys did not remain permanent owners of the estate, because the female descendants of Petheö de Gerse family had brought charges against count Erdody and the royal treasury, considering that their legacy, legally purchased, and not received as a deed of gift, was unjustly taken away from them. With the help of Mirko Karlo Raffay, the bishop of Đakovo, after the lawsuit that had lasted for 54 years, the estates Bela, Ivanec and Cerje were divided among fifteen aristocratic families, descendants of Petheö de Gerse family. Ivanec and its land went to Peharnik-Hotković family, while Franjo Kukuljević (1774-1844) came into possession of the estate Ivanečka Kaniža. Antun Kukuljević (1788-1851) got Jurketinec and a part of Ivanec, the Fodroczy family got the woods on Ivančica, the Krajačić family became the owners of the village of Gečkovec, and Samuel Bužan came to own some land in Ivanec and the woods on Ivančica. Franjo and Antun Kukuljević, respectively uncle and father of Ivan Kukuljević inherited parts of Ivanec and Bela estate through their great-grandmother, Katarina Zmajlović. Ladislav Kukuljević-Sakcinski bought the castle in 1867, and passed it on to Božidar Kukuljević-Sakcinski (1861-1927), who owned it until 1896. Because of great debts, the castle became the property of Josip Šaban in 1934. The destiny of the grand castle, the landmark of the past of Ivanec was sealed by the events of World War II. The castle burned down and was greatly damaged in the late autumn of 1943. Left to devastation, the castle became completely dilapidated until the summer of 1959, when two remaining towers were pulled down. Prof. Ladislav Šaban, owner of one of the parts of the castle, who was researching the facts from the history of Ivanec by shedding some light on the history of the castle, died in 1985. THE PARISH AND CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE in Ivanec are a landmark of the area's Catholicism. The church, parsonage, chapels of the Holy Ghost and St. Donates are the only remaining monuments of cultural heritage in the region. Ivanec became a parish as late as 1574. The reason for that can be deduced from the fact that there was no church to satisfy the religious needs of the population. The circumstance which also affected the rather late founding of the parish was the clerical authority of the order of St. John and their chapel of St. John the Baptist in Ivanec which existed until 1674. The counts Petheö, who owned the newly built castle (since 1558) did not pay any attention to the preservation of the Chapel of St. John the Baptist because they were going to build a new one. Nobility of that time considered owning a chapel a matter of prestige. Despite this, the Chapel of St. John lasted for more than 350 years. The Petheö de Gerses built a new chapel of the same name in 1686. It was 16 metres in height and 6 metres in width. Its height was prominent because it had two choirs, and the main altar was devoted to St. John the Baptist. Count Ladislav Erdödy continued decorating the chapel: in 1771 the ceiling was painted, there were more icons and a small organ was installed. Unfortunately it was then that the cracks which showed that the ceiling and the walls will part appeared. In 1844 the chapel was pulled down. The remaining pieces and the inventory are still stored in the Parish Church of St. Mary Magdalene. The portal of the parsonage was originally transferred from the chapel. The existence of the Chapel of the Holy Ghost in Prigorec was for the first time officially recorded in 1649. According to its architecture it was built at the end of the 14th century. The chapel is situated on an outstanding site on a hill at the altitude of 564 metres above the sea level, with a governing view of the whole region. The Parish church of St. Mary Magdalene was built by Ladislav Erdody and his wife Ana Marija Illeshazy(+1756) between 1758 and 1760. Its altars, walls and ceiling are covered with beautiful frescos done in 1779 by Antun Dovečer from Slovenia. The chapter FEUDAL SYSTEM AND AGRARIAN ISSUES ON IVANEC ESTATE IN THE 16th AND 17th CENTURIES deals with Ivanec as the estate owned by counts Petheö, whose residents were denied all privileges. The period until the 19th century is best characterised by great taxes which were paid in money, goods and free labour. Labour annuity equalled four days of work in summer for a homestead, three days in winter, while during harvest it could be an everyday obligation. The safest form of income for estate-owners was wine tax, because wine always sold well. After the abolishment of the feudal system in Croatia in 1848, began a complicated process of division of family homesteads which were a traditional way of life of many families and generations. Many of the homesteads were divided furtively. Agrarian production in the district of Ivanec at the beginning of the 20th century is detailed in the documents on the circulation and breeding of cattle, on crops, fruit and vineyards. Cattle sale between 1902 and 1912 shows favourable prices at the beginning of the period, this being the result of the great demand on the market. Vineyards destroyed by vine-pest at the end of the 19th century were being regenerated by switching domestic for American vines. According to the reports, the renewed vineyards did not reach their former size, but the new vines, depending on the weather, yielded more wine than before the time of the vine-pest. Farmers were also beginning to grow new breeds of apples, pears and plums. At the beginning of the 20th century most of the land were plough-fields - 20.8%. Meadows occupied 16.2%, pastures 4.1%, vineyards 1.6% and woods 53.1% of the land. Division of estates in the district of Ivanec shows that in 1860 there were 4,134 pieces of land, while in 1935 this number was almost doubled and equalled 9,871. Cereals grown on the fields made up 67.2% of the total output - these being wheat (4.1%), maize (43.9%) and rye, barley, buckwheat and millet (19.2%). The rest of the output were potatoes (13.3%), vegetables (1.1%), cash crops (1.67%) and forage crops (2.5%). ECONOMIC HISTORY OF IVANEC is marked by farming and home-made products until the middle of the 19th century. There is centuries-old tradition of pottery making in villages Jerovec, Bedenec and Dubravec. Chest-making for storing of cereals, food and clothes was an old tradition in the village of Kraševec. There was a snuff factory owned by Franjo Pust in 1831 at the beginning of the industrial development of Ivanec. Twenty years later the first big mill started working. Its mill-wheel was set to motion by the water of the brook Bistrica. In 1923 it was completely modernised, and it worked with the electricity from the saw-mill's power unit. The production of white flour was one wagon a day. This was the most profitable business in the district of Varaždin until 1910, with 10 - 14 employees and the profit of 500,000 crowns a year. The most important business in Ivanec for 120 years was mining. First they started mining zinc carbon and pyrite for the zinc plant in Kuljevčica which worked between 1863 and 1883. Their yearly output was 600 tons of zinc. The most important company, "Ivanec coal-mines" started operating in 1883 with the opening of mine Kuljevčica that contained a large reserve of brown coal. Later, in 1886 and 1895 two other mines started working, and on 4 March 1901 mine "Flora" was opened in Ivanec. This completed the formation of the coal-mining basin in the Ivanec-Ladanje area which helped to support many poor families in this overpopulated area during its existence of 100 years. Ivanec tradesmen association was founded in 1906. It took care of the provision of materials, loans and health insurance for the members of tradesmen's families. In 1911 there were 365 tradesmen in the district of Ivanec. In the village itself there were 31-45 tradesmen, whereas their number grew to 193 in 1934. EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN IVANEC records its beginnings in 1622 when children were educated for clerical services. Antun Bernadić, a well-behaved young man, good singer and organ player started working as a teacher in 1780. A contract for the building of a new school next to the church in Ivanec was signed by School boards of Ivanec and Kaniža and the Government department of theology and education on 17 February 1839. Since then, the elementary school has been established in Ivanec. The School memorial marks the separation of girls from boys in 1876, so both schools worked on their own since then. Female pupils started attending school in November 1867 thanks to the contributions of residents of Ivanec and Stjepan Vuković, the parish priest who had secured that Sisters of Charity were employed as teachers in the school. There was a shortage of classrooms, teaching staff and materials ever since the school first started working. There was not more classroom space a few years after World War II. There were 250 pupils in the boys' school in 1911/1912 while only two teachers were employed. A great number of children were exempt from attending school. Health conditions were poor, and many of the school children died. The general state of health in the region was improved during the time when dr. Mavro Spiller was a GP. He did his best to make sure that children were regularly checked and the sick ones nursed. Besides "Ivanec Boys' school", later "Public elementary boys' school" and "Girls' elementary school", the book deals with the formation of the school in Kuljevčica, which started working in 1879. Mixed school in Prigorec was established in 1929. The chapter SOCIAL LIFE IN IVANEC deals with the work of the Public library, founded in 1885. During the thirties a group of amateur actors was active in Ivanec. The library used to organise concerts and lectures. There have been groups of singers and musicians in Ivanec ever since the beginning of this century. A brass band was set up within the Voluntary firemen organisation, then a band of tambura players in 1919, and a choir first in 1920 and again in 1936. The end of World War I marks first sport activities in Ivanec. Franjo Bukovec and Adalbert Spiller, students from Ivanec were known as prominent athletes, members of HAŠK in Zagreb. A group of sportsmen, which included Oto Hrazdira, engineer Bambas, Gabro Borovečki, brothers Adalbert, Pavao and Emil Spiller get the credit for renewing the tradition of mountaineering which has existed since 1898. A hikers' lodge and lookout tower were officially opened on Ivančica on 1 September 1929. Football club "Viktorija" Ivanec was established in 1936, although football became a popular sport much earlier. The club had meagre sources of support, and if it had not been for Milan Gobac, a local merchant, it would never have come through. Before World War II "Viktorija" was a well-trained team, scoring high in the second league. Fire-fighting in Ivanec is more than a hundred years old: the Voluntary firemen organisation was established in 1888, thus being one of the oldest in Croatia. It had branches in Lepoglava and Maruševec. The first motor-powered pump was obtained in 1931, and in 1936 the first fire engine. Cinema and theatre "Prosvjeta" played a significant part in promoting culture in Ivanec. Spring 1920 was the first time they had silent picture-shows, while sound films were introduced in 1936. The cinema projectors were the property of Rudolf Partlić, a prominent locksmith and a long-term president of Ivanec association of tradesmen. The chapter POPULATION OF IVANEC and the surroundings deals with changes in population growth since the 15th century when Ivanec was first changing into an urban structure. At the beginning the number of inhabitants was scarce, and by the end of the 16th century there were 230-270. According to official church records from 1649 there were 50 family houses with the average of 7-8 household members, which tells us that there were approximately 350-400 residents. There were altogether 214 houses in the Parish of St. Mary Magdalene at that time. The estimated number of inhabitants at the end of the 17th century was 1,500-1,700. The first official census from 1857 stated that there were 1,476 residents in the village itself, while together with the neighbouring villages there were 3,616. According to the census from 1900 Ivanec had 2,342 inhabitants, while before the beginning of World War II there were 3,074 people living there. Since the first official censuses up to our times the number of inhabitants has almost tripled. In the last part of the book - THE LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT - THE DISTRICT AND MUNICIPALITY, the author follows the position and development of Ivanec first within the "Županija Varaždinska", and later, after the break-up of Austro-Hungarian monarchy, under the administrative jurisdiction of Zagreb in the Yugoslav Monarchy. From 1924 until the beginning of World War II Ivanec was the seat of its own district and three municipalities. During 1930s Ivanec was "the largest rural municipality in the state", out of which seven municipalities generated: Ivanec, Bednja, Donja Voća, Klenovnik, Lepoglava, Maruševec and Višnjica. The central part of the chapter deals with the progress that has been made in the field of public utilities: the introduction of water-works in 1901, which was expanded to surrounding villages in 1932. Lamp oil was used for lighting during 1920s, and on Christmas Eve 1939 electric light was first introduced. School and tuberculosis clinics were established in 1940. Articles from cultural and artistic heritage by prominent residents of Ivanec still unknown to the public are published in the APPENDIX. The first is the life history of John the Baptist, patron saint of Ivanec. Published essays have been taken from the legacies of Božidar Kukuljević-Sakcinski and Bruno Županić. There is a text on folk traditions in Ivanec by Franjo Horvath, from the memoirs of painter Mirko Rački, Ivo Ladika, Adalbert Georgijević, Otokar and Pavica Hrazdira. The author of the book interviewed Pavica Hrazdira in 1971. An article about the closing of the zinc plant in Kuljevčica has been taken from a 1883 issue of Narodne novine. There is an article by Hinko Blumschein on Ivanec coal-mine and a dissertation on pottery-making in Jerovec by Viktor Pinter. A letter by Prof. Ladislav Šaban from 1974 is also published in the APPENDIX. Translated by Vesna Meliš |