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E-mail: jezerski.hram@siol.net
The Institute behind the Museum of Lake Cerknica
More than three decades dedicated to the heritage of Lake Cerknica
Jezerski hram – Institute for the Preservation of Natural and Cultural Heritage has been active since 1994 at Lake Cerknica in Slovenia's Notranjska region, around 50 km south of the capital, Ljubljana.
Cultural heritage protection is at the heart of our work, while museum activities also form an important part of the Institute's work, within which the Museum of Lake Cerknica operates.
Our core mission is the protection, preservation, presentation and interpretation of the natural and cultural heritage of Lake Cerknica – its remarkable natural processes, the lives of people around the lake, and the knowledge, skills and traditions that have developed here over generations.
From a childhood by the lake to the Museum of Lake Cerknica
The story of Jezerski hram is inseparably linked with its founder, Vekoslav Kebe, who has devoted much of his life to Lake Cerknica, to understanding it and to preserving its natural and cultural heritage.
He grew up in the village of Dolenje Jezero, beside Lake Cerknica, living with his mother on the farm of his uncle Peter. As a child, he tended cattle and spent much of his time outdoors, experiencing the lake as part of everyday life – through different seasons, high and low water levels, and its recurring cycle of filling and disappearing.
From an early age, he came to know the lake's changing character, its special features and its beauty, and this close connection remained with him throughout his life.
Over time, he began collecting old objects, photographs, written records and other material connected with Lake Cerknica and the lives of the people who lived around it. He recognised that traditional ways of life were changing and that, with them, objects, knowledge, skills and stories of earlier generations were gradually disappearing.
From the desire to preserve this heritage and share it with others, the idea of a museum was born.
A museum grew from a farm building
The beginnings were modest, but the vision was ambitious.
With much of the work carried out by Vekoslav Kebe himself, the farm building was gradually transformed into a museum space dedicated to Lake Cerknica and its heritage.
Over the years, the building filled with collections, original objects, photographs, written records, exhibitions and new interpretive content. The museum grew alongside the knowledge, experience and material accumulated over decades.
A particularly important part of this story is the Living Model of Lake Cerknica. Vekoslav Kebe designed it and hand-built it over a period of three years with the help of collaborators. Its creation required great precision and patience, but above all an in-depth knowledge of Lake Cerknica, its landscape, watercourses and the connections between the surface and the karst underground.
Today, the Living Model is the central exhibit of the Museum of Lake Cerknica and one of the most recognisable results of his many years of work and knowledge of the lake.
From personal dedication, the collecting and preservation of heritage, research and the desire to pass knowledge on to others, the Museum of Lake Cerknica gradually developed into the museum visitors know today.
The second generation continues the story
Today, the Museum of Lake Cerknica is run by the second generation of the Kebe family, continuing the story while developing new content, contemporary approaches to interpretation, educational programmes and projects in the field of natural and cultural heritage.
The foundations of our work remain the same: first-hand knowledge of Lake Cerknica, respect for its natural and cultural heritage, and a responsibility to preserve it for future generations.
As local people, we experience Lake Cerknica through its changing seasons, water levels and landscapes. We combine local knowledge, experience and traditions passed down through generations with contemporary professional and scientific knowledge.
Expert knowledge and first-hand understanding of Lake Cerknica
The contents of the Museum of Lake Cerknica are based on professional and scientific knowledge and many years of cooperation with experts from different fields.
In developing and expanding our museum content, we have worked with numerous experts, researchers and professional institutions from different fields, including experts from the Slovenian Museum of Natural History, the Slovene Ethnographic Museum and the Karst Research Institute ZRC SAZU, as well as many other specialists and organisations.
We combine professional expertise with many years of first-hand knowledge of Lake Cerknica, the experience of local people, and knowledge and traditions passed down through generations.
An important part of the museum is formed by its authentic collections and original objects – tangible traces of life beside Lake Cerknica that allow visitors to come into direct contact with its heritage.
We also preserve local speech and elements of the Notranjska dialect, as traditional names, expressions and ways of telling stories are themselves part of the intangible cultural heritage of the area.
Knowledge also needs to be shared well
For us, specialist knowledge alone is not enough. What also matters is how we communicate it to people.
Our museum welcomes a wide variety of visitors – children, school groups, families, associations, professional groups, representatives of different institutions, and visitors from Slovenia and abroad. Each group arrives with different prior knowledge, interests, experiences and expectations.
For this reason, we adapt our guided interpretation to the age, prior knowledge and interests of each group. The same subject can be presented in a more experiential, narrative, practical or specialist way, while the underlying content remains the same.
We see this as an essential part of the role of a good guide and interpreter: it is not enough simply to possess knowledge – it must be shared in a way that awakens curiosity, understanding and enthusiasm in the visitor.
It is precisely this combination of professional expertise, authentic objects, first-hand knowledge of the lake, local traditions and visitor-centred interpretation that gives our work its distinctive character.
Museum work, education and heritage preservation
An important part of the Institute's work is the Museum of Lake Cerknica, where visitors discover the natural and cultural characteristics of the intermittent Lake Cerknica through a guided visit.
Alongside the Living Model, the museum experience includes a multimedia presentation, an ethnological collection, the Cerknica Field Ethnological Park, ornithological content, exhibitions, and presentations of tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
Our work also extends beyond the museum. We develop and carry out educational and awareness-raising activities, programmes for children and school groups, heritage interpretation, the transmission of traditional knowledge, and project activities and partnerships.
Through all of this, we want heritage not only to be preserved, but also to be discovered, understood and valued.
Working in the public interest
Jezerski hram is a private non-profit institute and non-governmental organisation. We have been granted public-interest status in the field of culture – cultural heritage protection by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia. We are also a volunteer organisation.
Our work is dedicated to heritage preservation, education, awareness raising and the development of activities and content that create lasting value for visitors, the local community and future generations.
More than 350,000 visitors – and the story continues
Over more than three decades, more than 350,000 visitors from Slovenia and abroad have discovered our museum and its heritage.
We have not travelled this path alone, and we are sincerely grateful to all the experts, researchers and institutions whose knowledge, cooperation and support have contributed over the decades to the development and professional quality of our work.
We are equally grateful to all the visitors who have entered our museum over the years, listened to our stories, asked questions, returned to visit us and helped carry the story of Lake Cerknica further.
Jezerski hram grew from a deep connection with the lake and a desire to preserve its heritage. Today, we continue this mission with the same sense of responsibility – so that the knowledge, stories and heritage of Lake Cerknica can be passed on to future generations.
Presentation video
VIDEO – Discover the Museum of Lake Cerknica