An exhibition on the life and work of protestant priest Primoz Trubar (1508-1586), the author of the first book in the Slovenian language, opened on Thursday in Ljubljana. It features over 150 items from his day and age, including the only remaining copy of his 1564 "Cerkovna ordninga", the first legal text in Slovenian.

The exhibition, part of the year of Trubar, is more than just a commemoration to the reformer. While a part of it focuses on the life of the Slovenian priest, another section is devoted to presenting the age in which Trubar lived and in which some 10% of Slovenians, mainly nobles and city dwellers, converted to protestantism.

Addressing the audience at the opening was Minister of Culture dr. Vasko Simoniti, who said Trubar erected the foundations on which the Slovenian cultural identity had evolved through the centuries.

 
However, this was not Trubar's primary aim, Simoniti said. According to the minister, the reformer only wanted to provide Slovenians with the Bible in their own tongue so there would be no intermediaries between themselves and God.

The exhibition's authors, Maja Žvanut and Marijan Rafael Loboda, said that the public thinks of Trubar mainly as the father of the book and the Slovenian written language. But Žvanut said Trubar was much more, a realist and a powerful personality with a self-willed nature.

"Cerkovna ordninga" describes the organisation of the Protestant Church in Slovenia and the rites, as well as Lutheran teachings and the activities of the Church in general. It will be on display until 6 May.

The exhibition is also important because it is the first in the Metelkova premises of the National Museum. The renovated building - given to the museum in 1995 - greatly alleviated the institution's storage problems and houses 63000 items that have so far been stored in makeshift storage facilities.

The National Museum has been collecting items connected to Slovenia and its inhabitants for 187 years.

Source: STA