Od Skradinskog buka do Slovenije: izložba o industrijskoj baštini Krke u Tehničkom muzeju Slovenije

On the occasion of the 130th anniversary of the first hydroelectric power plant on the Krka River, on 28 August 1895, the Krka National Park, in cooperation with the State Archives in Šibenik, has organized an exhibition, Industrial Architecture on the Krka River, which will open on 5 March 2026, at the Technical Museum of Slovenia in Bistra

The exhibition's display outside Croatia confirms the international significance of the industrial and electric power heritage of the Krka River.

The exhibition was created as a result of a research project on industrial plants along the Krka River, and was originally set up in a watermill at Skradinski buk waterfall, not far from the archaeologically explored and preserved remains of the Krka Hydroelectric Power Plant. It was at this very location that the Krka hydroelectric power plant, one of the most significant power plants in the history of energy in Croatia and the world, was commissioned on 28 August 1895, just two days after the hydroelectric power plant at Niagara Falls.

The commissioning of the hydroelectric power plant at Skradinski buk also marked the first long-distance transmission of alternating current in Croatia. The visionary undertaking of building a complete system of production, transmission, and distribution of multiphase alternating current – consisting of a plant on the Krka River, an eleven-kilometer long transmission line from the hydroelectric power plant to Šibenik and consumers in the city – was achieved by the engineer Vjekoslav Meichsner and Šibenik Mayor Ante Šupuk. That evening, Šibenik became the first city in the world to have public electric lighting powered by alternating current generated by a hydroelectric power plant.

In the period leading up to the beginning of World War I, the water power of the Krka River was used to operate three more hydroelectric power plants: the Jaruga HPP at Skradinski buk, the Roški slap HPP, and the Miljacka HPP on the waterfall of the same name in the upper reaches of the Krka River. These hydroelectric power plants still produce electricity today and are part of the unified electricity system of the Republic of Croatia.

The exhibition presents archival documents, photographs, and drawings from the holdings of the Krka National Park, the Drniš Municipal Museum, the State Archives in Šibenik, the Croatian State Archives, and the private collection of the Šupuk family. Through the rich material, visitors are shown the development of industrial architecture on the Krka River and its influence on the strong economic advance of Šibenik and the Šibenik region at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The industrial architecture on the Krka River bears witness to great technological achievements that have changed the way people live. On the recommendation of the Historical Committee for the Preservation and Promotion of the Engineering Heritage, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) on May 20, 2013, included the Krka hydroelectric power plant at Skradinski buk among the historically important engineering achievements in the world. Although the Krka hydroelectric power plant ceased operation in 1913 and its facilities were dismantled during World War I, its remains, owned by the Šupuk family, are still visible today at Skradinski buk, where information boards about it have been installed.

Just like one hundred and thirty years ago, the Krka River is still the lifeblood of the Šibenik region. But while it was once the driving force of strong industrial development, today it is the foundation of sustainable development that rests on the protection and preservation of the natural diversity and unique phenomena of the river. In considering the future, the priority of the Krka National Park remains the protection of nature and the preservation of fragile ecosystems, while at the same time emphasizing the rich cultural and industrial heritage that has marked the history of this area.