The beginnings of postal traffic go back to Roman times. The area of ​​Gorenjska was strategically important for the Roman state, connecting the eastern and western Roman provinces. For the military and state needs, the Romans built roads. Through Gorenjska the important roads were from Emona (Ljubljana) along the Kamnik region and from Kranj via Ljubelj and Korensko sedlo to Carinthia. Along the state roads, special officials were employed, who were responsible for transporting written messages, various shipments and persons important for the country’s operation. Usually they were carried in postal carriages. This postal service was not intended for other citizens.

After the collapse of the Roman state, roads were no longer maintained, so organized postal activities ceased. The rulers, the princes of the provinces, the castles and the townsfolk, transmitted the messages through the letters that traveled on foot or on horses. When, in the 15th century, the Turks plundered the Slovene lands, they attempted to reorganize the post, as the notifications of the Turkish threat were to be transmitted very quickly. The fastest were sluggish runners, as well as hired mail. In some cases, regular postal services were introduced, which meant that at least once a week, the village collected letters and parcels and took them to the recipient.

On the roads where postal traffic was organized, postal stations were established. The oldest post office along the Ljubljana-pošta-Ljubljana road was in Podpeča near Lukovica at the entrance to Črni graben. At the beginning of the 18th century it was also set up in Šentožbolt.

In the 18th century, the state became a direct administration. The post office was promoted due to the needs of state offices and trade. In the middle of the 18th century, postal sleets were abolished in Gorenjska and a regular postal service was established between Ljubljana and Klagenfurt, and a few years later they established the postal service Ljubljana-Beljak. The central postal station was in Kranj, the rest were in Tržič, on the island near Podvin, on Sava near Jesenice and in Podkoren.

At the post office in Podkoren he served at the beginning of the 19th century by postman Lovrenc Razinger. There was also an inn and stables for the exchange of horses for Razinger’s horses, who wore postal carriages. The post office was hereditary. She remained in the family until the construction of the Gorenjska railway in 1870, when postal stations began to be abandoned. From the Razinger’s legacy, we store some valuable objects from the 19th century in the Museum of the Gorenjska region, such as the portrait of the postman Lovrenc Razinger, postal stamps, and post-linen jacket and hat. They belonged to the festive uniforms, together with the horn, which was the obligatory equipment of every postman.

Mag. Marjana Žibert

Inventory numbers:

Portrtrait – KZ – 1886

Jacket – KZ – 1887

Cap: KZ – 1888

Hat: KZ – 1889

Horn: KZ – 1890

Belt: KZ – 1891