Iz zgodovine Litije in okolice ali »Litija« je vec kot le Litija
Ko smo pri Kroniki v letu 2010 pripravljali in na koncu tudi izdali tematsko številko »Iz zgodovine Bele krajine«, so se porajali pomisleki, ali je glede na obširno zgodovinopisno produkcijo o Beli krajini v zadnjih letih smiselno izdati tudi samostojno belokranjsko številko Kronike. Na koncu so se naši pomisleki izkazali za neutemeljene in belokranjska Kronika je ugledala luč sveta. Pri Litiji takšnih pomislekov že od samega začetka ni bilo. Zgodovinopisna pa tudi siceršnja znanstvena produkcija o tem območju je pičla, raziskovanje je bolj prepuščeno zagnanim ljubiteljem kot strokovnjakom. Veliko pove tudi podatek, da v prvih petdesetih letih izhajanja Kronike kot časopisa za slovensko krajevno zgodovino (1953-2002) v njej ni izšel niti en samostojen članek o zgodovini Litije ali njene okolice. Zato se nam je zdelo prav, da eno tematsko številko posvetimo tudi temu, v zgodovinopisnem smislu zapostavljenemu območju v osrčju Slovenije, ki je naseljeno že več kot dva tisoč let in se torej ponaša s pestro in zanimivo preteklostjo. Čeprav je sprva kazalo, da odziv na našo pobudo ne bo prav velik, je na koncu nastala ena najobsežnejših številk Kronike doslej. Tudi to priča o pravilnosti naše odločitve.
Pri nastajanju »litijske številke« Kronike se je pojavilo več težav, katerih rešitve niso enostavne in enoznačne. Najprej je bilo treba določiti naslov. Čeprav smo v središče raziskovanja postavili Litijo kot danes osrednji kraj obravnavanega območja, je bilo treba upoštevati, da so bili v preteklosti nekateri tamkajšnji kraji enako pomembni ali celo pomembnejši od Litije npr. Vače ali Šmartno, še posebej pa Višnja Gora kot središče zemljiškega gospostva. Da je bila Litija npr. glede na Šmartno dolgo v podrejenem položaju, priča tudi podatek, da je samostojna župnija postala šele leta 1936, do takrat pa je bila podružnica župnije Šmartno. Tako naslov, ki bi vseboval zgolj in samo Litijo, ni mogel priti v po-štev. Med številnimi predlogi smo se na koncu odločili za »Iz zgodovine Litije in okolice«. Drugi izrazi kot npr. »Litijsko« ali »Litijsko Posavje« bodisi niso dovolj uveljavljeni ali pa ne opredeljujejo dovolj natančno vsega ozemlja, ki je bilo v pričujoči
Kroniki predmet raziskovanja. Treba je namreč upoštevati, da je današnja občina Litija veliko manjša od nekaterih drugih upravnih enot v preteklosti, katerih središče je bilo mesto oz. trg Litija. Tu je mišljeno zlasti okrajno glavarstvo Litija v drugi polovici 19. stoletja, ki je na jugu segalo vse do vasi Krka pri Muljavi, na severu pa skoraj do Trojan. Nekdanje litijsko glavarstvo je torej obsegalo ozemlje, ki ga z današnje perspektive težko imenujemo litijska okolica. Kljub temu smo se odločili, da zaradi zgodovinske korektnosti upoštevamo vse zgodovinske okoliščine, ki so nekdaj opredeljevale pojem »litijska okolica«, tako da je v člankih zajeto relativno obsežno ozemlje, ki je nekoč gravitiralo (ali še danes gravitira) proti Litiji.
Naslednja težava je bila povsem slovnične narave - sklanjanje imena Šmartno pri Litiji. Ker gre v osnovi za pridevniško obliko imena, bi se moralo po tem principu tudi sklanjati, torej iz Šmartnega, v Šmartnem. Toda ravno Šmartno pri Litiji predstavlja v tem pogledu izjemo, saj ga domačini sklanjajo samostalniško, torej iz Šmartna, v Šmartnu (dejansko domačini rečejo »v Šmartni«). Zato smo se kljub nekaterim drugačnim mnenjem odločili, da sledimo navadi domačinov in uporabimo obliko »iz Šmartna«. Ne nazadnje to rabo dovoljuje tudi Leksikon slovenskih krajevnih imen, o dolgoživosti te navade pa pričajo tudi stare razglednice še izpred prve svetovne vojne, s katerimi so popotniki pošiljali pozdrave »iz Šmartna«.
Pričujoča številka Kronike ni imela namena postati zaokrožen zgodovinski pregled celotnega litijskega območja. Takšen projekt bi nedvomno presegel omejen obseg ene številke Kronike. Kot pove sam naslov »Iz zgodovine...«, je litijska številka Kronike mozaik naključno izbranih prispevkov o zanimivi litijski preteklosti in morda spodbuda za njeno nadaljnje raziskovanje.
Miha Preinfalk odgovorni urednik Kronike
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From the history of Litija and its surroundings or »Litija«
is more than just Litija
When in 2010 Kronika's thematic issue »From the history of White Carniola« was being compiled and eventually published, we did not see much point in publishing a special issue on White Carniola, given the voluminous historiographical production that had already taken place on the subject over the recent years. However, our scepticism proven unfounded, the White Carniola issue of Kronika ultimately saw the light of day. In the case of Litija, there were no such scruples from the very beginning. Historiographical and other scientific production on the said area is scarce and more research is done by amateurs than professionals. Much can also be learned from the fact that during the first fifty years of its circulation, Kronika as a newspaper for Slovenian local history (1953-2002) featured not a single special article on the history of Litija or its surroundings. Therefore, we considered it appropriate to also dedicate a thematic issue to the so far historiographically neglected area in the heart of Slovenia which, having been settled for more than two thousand years, lays claim to a diverse and interesting history. Although it seemed at first that our initiative would show little or no results, it has ultimately produced one of the most comprehensive issues of Kronika to date. This is only further confirmation that we have made the right decision.
While compiling the »Litija« issue, we encountered several problems for which no simple and straightforward solutions were available. First, it was necessary to determine the title. Although Litija was at the focus of our research as the centre of the area under investigation, consideration also had to be given to the fact that some nearby places used to be at least as important or even of greater importance than Litija - e.g. Vače, Šmartno and especially Višnja Gora as the centre of the land seig-neury (Herrschaft). Litija's longstanding inferior position vis-à-vis Šmartno is also suggested by the fact that it became an independent parish no sooner than 1936, until which date it had been subsidiary to the parish of Šmartno. Therefore, any title that contained only the name of Litija, was out of the question. Deciding from among numerous suggestions we finally chose »From the history of Litija and its surroundings«. Other terms such as »the Litija area« or »the Litija Posavje« are either not established enough or they fail to accurately cover the entire territory discussed in the current issue of
Kronika. In this regard, account ought to be taken of the fact that the present-day Municipality of Litija is significantly smaller than some other administrative units in the past that centred on the town and market town of Litija, respectively. Here, reference is made, first and foremost, to the district (Bezirkshauptmannschaft) of Litija in the second half of the 19th century, which extended as far south as the village of Krka pri Muljavi and almost as far as north as Trojane. The former district of Litija therefore encompassed a territory that today can hardly be defined as the surroundings of Litija. Regardless of the above, we decided, for the sake of historical correctness, to take into consideration all historical circumstances that once determined the notion of »Litija's surroundings«, so that the articles cover a relatively vast territory which once gravitated (or still does today) towards Litija.
The next problem was of entirely grammatical nature and it related to the Slovene declension of the name Šmartno pri Litiji. Given its essentially adjectival form, the name should be declined in compliance with that principle, i.e. »iz Šmartnega« [from Šmartno], »v Šmartnem« [in Šmartno]. But Šmartno pri Litiji is an exception from the rule, being declined by the locals as a noun, i.e. »iz Šmartna«, »v Šmartnu« (the locals actually say »v Šmartni«, using the feminine gender). For this reason and irrespective of a few differences in opinion, we finally decided to follow the custom of the local inhabitants and use the form »iz Šmartna«. The selected use is, not lastly, allowed by the Lexicon of Slovenian Place Names and the time-honoured custom is also evident from old picture-postcards dating back to before World War I on which travellers conveyed their greetings »iz Šmartna« (from Šmartno).
The current issue of Kronika was never intended to become a complete historical overview of the entire Litija area. Such a project would undoubtedly exceed the limited scope of one single issue. As suggested by the title itself, »From the History...«, the Litija issue of Kronika is a mosaic of randomly selected articles on the interesting past of Litija and, perhaps, an incentive for further exploration.
Miha Preinfalk Managing Editor of Kronika