LIBURNIA AS A MANSION OF CENTRAL EUROPE: MEMOIRS AND LITERARY TESTIMONY BY IVANA BRLIĆ-MAŽURANIĆ

Liburnia is a geographic region along the eastern coast of Istria, bordered by Učka, Preluk and Plomin Bay. Its linguistic and cultural dimensions are strongly determined by its geological, geographical and political uniqueness. In the middle of the 19th century, this area began to develop as an elite Central European tourist destination. Within the AustroHungarian Monarchy, Opatija was a well-known Liburnian winter and summer resort. Members of the royal families, composers and writers came to visit Opatija, including the famous Croatian writer Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić. Based on documents recently discovered in Ivana’s correspondence, this paper documents and depicts her stays in Liburnia, which have not been researched and written about before. Moreover, the recent literature related to tourist and cultural history of Liburnia emphasizes numerous famous guests who visited this area, but fails to mention Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić. In addition to Ivana’s correspondence, this paper analyses her portrayal of Liburnia based on her memoirs and lyrical prose. Her work is an expressive testimony of the development of the culture of travel of the 19th century Central-European upper class. Ultimately, it is a valuable portrayal of Liburnia at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, which was the time of its intense tourist expansion.


INTRODUCTION
Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (Ogulin, 18 April 1874 -Zagreb, 21 September 1938) is a distinguished Croatian writer and the first female academician of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts. She was born into the Mažuranić family from the Croatian Littoral, which, along with her famous grandfather Ivan, gave a number of other writers and philologists, such as Antun, Fran, Matija and Vladimir Mažuranić. From this celebrated family, Ivana Mažuranić married into the Brlić family of Slavonski Brod -an old family, likewise, important for Croatian culture. During her life, Ivana often came to the Croatian Littoral and wrote about her visits in her memoirs and essays. Moreover, Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić's stays in the Croatian Littoral are evidenced by her correspondence. All of these documents show her affection in describing the western cost of the Croatian Littoral, i.e. of the Kvarner, an area called Liburnia. In this work, first the chronology of Ivana's visits to Liburnia is (re)constructed, based on her memoirs and prose. The recently found documents from Ivana's correspondence are presented and analysed within this newly-created framework.
In these documents it is possible to recognize the specific features of the culture of everyday life of the upper middle class of Central Europe. This life, among other things, reveals the amenities of tourist travelling and vacations in special destinations as well as their healing effects both mentally and physically.

LIBURNIA AS A MANSION OF CENTRAL EUROPE
Liburnian history points to a social and cultural contingency, stratification, complexity. More precisely, we focus on the so-called Istrian Liburnia, a region bordered by Učka, Preluk and Plomin Bay. Its linguistic and cultural dimensions are strongly determined by its geological, geographical and political uniqueness.
The central place is Opatija, whose name suggests that it was established around its core nucleus -the Benedictine Abbey of St. James (mentioned for the first time in 1438/39). In the 1880s, Opatija became a mansion for the members of the higher social strata. Lovran, along with Opatija, was also becoming more and more known as a health resort. A water supply network, power supply network and a tram line connecting Lovran with the Opatija railway station in Matulji were built. This was the time of the rise of the middle class, which, like the earlier aristocratic classes, needed to fulfil their free time and to conceive their leisure. In Central Europe, these classes, made up of landlords, families of senior clerks, bankers, doctors and traders, early retired officers, chronic patients, wealthier students, artists, were forced to 'survive' the grey and long winters. Opatija and its surroundings provided them with a shelter, offering a pleasant climate during wintertime. What is more, being connected by rail to major cities in Austria-Hungary, it was a relatively close destination. (Zakošek 2005: 35-36) By the beginning of the 20 th century, Liburnia and its main centre Opatija, had been established as a renowned holiday resort in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy with dozens of sanatoriums and about thirty physicians. It was visited by members of the royal and imperial families, composers and writers.
During these idyllic, golden times, Liburnia was visited also by foreign writers. Among the foreigners (whatever this meant for Opatija and Liburnia), James Joyce came here (perhaps on a trip from Trieste or Pula where he lived for some time), Gabriele D'Annunzio, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (he stayed at the Kvarner Hotel 1894: in his short story Ariadne Opatija was not exactly described with approval) Vladimir Nabokov (as a child he spent the summer of 1904 at Villa Neptun) and Ferencz Molnár (1903) (Muzur 2004), Stanisław Witkiewicz (1851-1915, the famous Polish painter, writer and author of the so called Zakopane Style of architecture, spent many years in Lovran, where he died in 1915. In addition, many travel writers spurred a lively interest in Liburnia in their travel books (Peršić, 2002: 16 a) The first description revisits her youthful days, namely 1889, when Ivana was 15 years old and went on her first trip to the seaside.
b) The second description is from 1906, when Ivana, as a 32-yearold married woman and mother, spent her holidays in Opatija with her husband and son Ivan.
c) The third description dates back to 1913, when Ivana, now mature at the age of 39, spent a summer in Lovran with her husband and daughter Nada. It is most obvious that in this first memoir of 1889, Ivana describes Opatija, as well as Liburnia, as a fairy-tale oasis of natural and human harmony, giving it almost unrealistic connotations of an enthusiastic adolescent romantic (de Canziani 2016). Furthermore, Ivana's Putne bilješke (Travel Notes) point to the second stage in the historical development of tourism in Croatia. This period takes place at the end of the 19 th century, and is referred to as the stage of curiosity. Namely, tourism development [2] Hotel Kronprinzessin Stephanie, today Imperial. was then stimulated by curiosity, and the first catering facilities were locally owned. Moreover, sail and steam shipping was developing, the first coastal rivieras (Opatija, Crikvenica, Dubrovnik) were being established. This was also the time of entry of foreign capital and construction of the railway network. The awareness of the benefits that tourism development brings was heightening. (Vukonić, 2005, 21)  Ivana depicted Opatija at the beginning of the century in her sketch in four images. However, what is worth emphasizing strongly is that the author could now see certain changes in the landscape and lifestyle. This Opatija was also visited by a particular audience, often parvenus, but always wealthy people in the pursuit of luxury and frivolous pleasure. Therefore, resistance to all this mounted in the noble writer rich in spirit, and a slight smile of disdain emanates through the lines describing the fashionable summer resort. (Arambašin 2000, 170) The third image of this prose, the third perception of Opatija, is now reflected in the spirit of the artist prompted by the noon bells, as an [3] Because of the complexity of the tourism development and the various influences that left their mark on it, Vukonić decided to adopt the following historical framework of his analysis: the first stage -the period of the forerunners of tourism development or of phenomena similar tourism; the second stage -the end of the nineteenth century, or the curiosity stage; the third stage -the period from the beginning of the twentieth century to the end of the First World War or the "awareness-raising" stage; the fourth stage -the period between the two World Wars or the first stage of achievement; the fifth stage -after the Second World War or the stage of intense tourism development; the sixth stage from 1991 to the beginning of the twenty-first century, i.e. the stage of recovery and consolidation of tourist life in Croatia. This division represents the most important events that have had an impact on Croatia and its tourism and on the unfolding of social, cultural, political and economic events. (Vukonić 2005: 23-24) image of this landscape in its original appearance. (Arambašin 2000, 171) O najednom, nastaje u meni slika: kako je ovdje bilo prije mnogo, Bog te pita koliko godina. Al je ovud vladala tišina. Sunce, spokojno i zlatno, oblijevalo je svu onu krš. More je ostajalo tiho, samo se dvostruka brazda širila za brodicama, koje su vozila trešnje tamo preko Kvarnera. (…) Po dražicama desno, lijevo, posvuda, kupali se "mići" -samo oni! (…) Učka, sva u suncu, miruje svečanim mirom(…). It is evident that in the second -literary description -of Opatija, dating from 1906, Ivana, with a somewhat critical spirit of an adult lady from the upper spheres of society, nevertheless misses the onetime genuine rustic arcadian Opatija (de Canziani 2016). This twofold Ivana's image of Opatija revealing the relentless incursion of new tendencies of development, which are somewhat in disagreement with the "good old days" of intact virgin indigenous life in this area, testifies to the third stage of historical development of tourism in Croatia. It is a period from the beginning of the 20 th century to the end of the First World War; this stage is also called the stage of awareness-raising. At this stage, the affirmation of tourist-health centres in the Adriatic (for example, Opatija, Crikvenica, Hvar) takes place, while some places define their development as a vision of tourism development (Vukonić 2005, 22).

1913. LOVRAN: SVE NAJMODERNIJE I U VELIKOM STILU (1913 LOVRAN EVERYTHING IS THE MOST MODERN AND IN GREAT STYLE)
In May 1913, Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić resided with her husband Vatroslav and their eldest daughter Nada in Lovran. Lovran, along with Opatija, is the largest tourist resort in Liburnia. While Opatija evolved as a very dynamic fashionable centre, Lovran maintained the reputation of a sophisticated and somewhat isolated health resort whose peace provided a haven for many of the prominent figures of the uppermost Vienna and Budapest societies, as well as other parts of Europe. Ivana and her family came to this and such Lovran in May 1913.
Nevertheless, she also visited Opatija. This is evidenced by two letters written by Ivana to her mother (Henrietta, née Bernath) and a postcard sent to Ivana's daughter Zori and a postal card sent to her daughter Zdenka. The letters are kept in the Archives of the Brlić Family (Box No. 70, Vol. 16). They are presented here in clean copy, with some illegible parts. This is the first presentation of these documents to the expert public in the English language. The first letter is dated 13 th May 1913. Ivana points out that they are very comfortable in Lovran: Sobe imamo jednu uz drugu, u vrtu tik nad morem… Spavamo do 8 ili ½ 9 -izlazimo istom oko ½ 11 -jedemo toliko da me je sram, idemo svaki dan na kakav izlet, a pjevamo i smijemo se u naše dvije sobe… The rooms are next to each other, in the garden just over the sea ... We sleep in until 8 or 8.30 -we go out as late as about 10:30 -we eat so much that I am ashamed, we make an excursion every day and we sing and laugh in our two rooms ... and mentions Villa Splendid: "Villa Splendid" novi pension, malo izvan Lovrane ( naime 5 minuta hoda) (…) pred kućom ( to je velika prednost jer po vrućini ići /…/). -Ciene vrlo umjerene. Lift u kući. Sve najmodernije i u velikom stilu.

"Villa Splendid", a new boarding house, just outside of Lovran (5 minutes' walking distance) (...) in front of the house (this is a great advantage because walking in this heat /.../). -Prices are very moderate. There is a lift in the house. Everything is the most modern and in great style.
Villa Splendid is today's tourist (unfortunately, neglected and devastated) Splendid Complex, which consists of three buildings: the Splendid Hotel, the Fani Villas and the hotel annex. It is the southernmost part of Lovran, towards Medveja and above the Peharova Bay. Ivana indicates the importance of the bathing site. Namely, in the Peharova Bay, in the southern part of Lovran, there was a wooden bathing area open to the public on 1 st June 1908. This facility followed the line of the cove line in a slight angle curve, it was located on the beach mostly covering it. The ground floor was made of masonry, the cabin door openings were rectangular. The superstructure was wooden, the first floor was shaped in a series of cabins with a patio and columns connected by a fence with cross-lined slats in a rectangular field. (Kos 2010, 192).
In this letter Ivana reports that they visited Opatija: i tu smo pred café Quarnero sproveli popodne. and here, in front of the Quarnaro Café [4] , we spent our afternoon.
I will ask about in another place in Opatija -Slatina [5] where the bathing place is also under your nose, with very lively traffic and a wide view of the sea. Only, it will be somewhat more expensive here. But the difference can be two to three crowns a day.
Our villa is simply wonderful for the summer and, from what I have seen in Opatija-Lovran, I do not know of any other villa that would have so much shade in the summer and a sea bathing site straight from the garden, ten steps down and you are in your private bathing area. But this villa is so hidden and sheltered in its own garden below that you cannot see anything of the inland life. And the entire tone of the villa is bürgerlich.
From Ivana's description, it is not possible to accurately define which villa in Lovran this could be. It could be the southern part of Lovran, since Ivana mentions the villa Splendid. Namely, in that part of Lovran there are a number of villas with remarkable architectural and decorative elements. First of all, irrespective of the area of Lovran where the villa could be located, Ivana indicates that it is the seaside or eastern side. Namely, Lovran is crossed by the main road in the north-south direction Imperial. Ivana mentions the Quarnero Café -today's Hotel Kvarner, while and in the first encounter with Opatija in 1889 she mentions "Hotel Štefanija", that is, the hotel Kronprinzessin Stephanie (today's Imperial).
[5] Slatina je najpoznatije opatijsko kupalište i danas. Nalazi se u samom središtu, uz obalnu šetnicu -Lungomare, i glavnu prometnicu. and stretches along the sea, with villas stringing on the west inland side above the road, and on the east side, below the road, on the seashore. If we assume that Ivana spent her summer in the southern part of Lovran, the starting point should be from the pier -"mul", which will be further discussed in this paper, towards the southernmost point of the Peharova Bay. It is a series of buildings with direct access to the beach and the sea from their gardens down their own stairs. It is, however, possible that Ivana stayed in a villa in the central part of Lovran. In the second letter, she mentions going to visit friends in the villa Iris, which is located right in the central part.
Ivana wrote the second letter to her mother on 16 th May 1913. This letter describes the departure for a solemn dinner in the mentioned villa. Villa Iris is a building that was later renamed the Miramar Hotel. Built in 1895, it is a large two-storey building, conceived as a Renaissance villa of the Tuscan type with its pronounced and raised lateral wings. The building was considerably extended to the south in 1904. (Peršić 2002, 113-114) In general, in her descriptions of her stay in Lovran, Ivana expressed a mature and prudent decision in choosing her vacation destination. She was aware of the meaning of rest and detachment as parts of the refined life of the then Central European upper middle class.
Our stay is coming to an end -but we still do not want to determine the day of departure. We find that we are having such a beautiful time because we lived without any plan and that is how we are going to determine our departure at the last minute. This is also evidenced by a postcard and a postal card she sent.

1913. Postcard: Lovrana -Molo bei Scirocco
Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić also sent a postcard during her stay in On the back of the postal card, it is apparent that the stationery is from Russia, the information is also written in Cyrillic: GRANBERGS BREFKORT -РОЧТОВАЯ КАРТОЧКА. So is the information on the front of the postcard: Русскій Музей Императора Александра III. И. E. РЂПИНЪ. Запорожцы cочиняющіе пісьмо Туреџкому султану. And in French: Musée russe de l'Empereur Alexandre III. I. E. RIEPIN. Les cosaques écrivant une lettre au sultan turc [6] . We wonder whether Ivana's choice of the scene on the postal card is just a coincidence, or if it testifies, in addition to Ivana's sense of vivacious humour and justice where good triumphs over evil, little over great, joyfully over sadness, above all of her love of the Croatian homeland as the basis of the feelings of the Slavic spirit and slavophilia.

CONCLUSION
After analysing the recently discovered documents from the correspondence of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, as well as her memoirs and literary records about her first meeting with the sea and her arrival to Liburnia, but also her later visits, certain conclusions can be drawn. On the one hand, we have presented the age and area to which Ivana comes -Liburnia in late 19 th and early 20 th centuries. In a series of distinguished persons, especially writers, who visited this magical coastal region, there is no mention of the distinguished Croatian writer and the first academician of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts. To this end, hopefully, this work has highlighted the importance and the fundamental achievements of this part of Ivana's life and creation. On the other hand, we believe, along with Mato Artuković, Ph.D. (2016, 450), that the inhabitants of Opatija (and of the entire Liburnia, we would add) will be happy to quote Ivana's observations about their town and their homeland. In the linguistic sense, the observed material confirms that Ivana is a writer sensitive to the language (Arambašin 2000, 171). She thus perceives the linguistic peculiarities of the speech of the region in which she is staying. First of all, those of the Chakavian. On the other hand, Ivana's language, styling, especially in its correspondence, reveals the complexity of linguistic expression, characteristic of the then Central European middle class. The discourse thus has many German words, phrases, whole sentences, then French, Russian and others. In the orthography, it is worth noting Ivana's [6] In addition, Акц. О: во Ѓранберѓь въ Стокгольмѣ. 4542. In the upper right margin on the back someone wrote: Запорожku Kozak Han(j)a?
varied recording of the proper noun Opatija: Abbazia, Opatija, Abazzija, Abazzia. Lovran is consistently called Lovran. Furthermore, Ivana's fiery patriotism, love for her homeland, Croatia can be observed throughout the studied material. In general, the observed material points to Ivana's deep and intimate encounters with Liburnia as a geographical area that provided her with abundant joy, rest and inspiration.
(the Lovran "mul" /pier/ battered by high waves caused by the scirocco -a south wind). It is the part where the southern part of Lovran commences.
3. This is evidenced by two letters written by Ivana to her mother (Henrietta, née Bernath). This is the first presentation of these documents to the expert public in the English language. The first letter is dated 13 th May 1913. Ivana points out that they are very comfortable in Lovran: The rooms are next to each other, in the garden just over the sea ... We sleep in until 8 or 8.30 -we go out as late as about 10:30 -we eat so much that I am ashamed, we make an excursion every day and we sing and laugh in our two rooms ...) We wonder whether Ivana's choice of the scene on the postal card is just a coincidence, or if it testifies, in addition to Ivana's sense of vivacious humour and justice where good triumphs over evil, little over great, joyfully over sadness, above all of her love of the Croatian homeland as the basis of the feelings of the Slavic spirit and slavophilia.