Sights on the Brijuni islands

Before Paul Kupelwieser came to Brijuni, he had lookout towers of filigree steel construction made in Vitkovice. He posted these at the finest spots in the national park, including on the Saluga hill, from where, thanks to the generous spiral staircase and the roofed platform, one has an even finer view over the landscape than one would have anyway. Whereas the towers once rose out of the setting, today - thanks to nature's free development - they are mostly level with the treetops. One more reason to climb the steps and let your gaze wander.

The burial place of the Kupelwieser family was originally conceived as the grave of the island's owner and his wife, yet today only the bones of the mother and her son lie here. In the building, completed in 1917, Maria Kupelwieser, the wife of the famous Austrian, as well as Karl, who wanted to complete his father's life's work, found their final rest. The latter shot himself in 1919, only a few years after his mother's death and several financial misjudgements. Paul Kupelwieser himself died in Vienna, the city that was his second dearest home after the island of Brijuni, and was buried there too.

The researcher and bacteriologist Robert Koch, who once freed the island of Brijuni from malaria, will continue to be remembered. Not least a beautifully worked marble relief ensures this, showing the scientist's bust and a girl adorning him with a garland of flowers. The inscription reads: "To the great researcher, the liberator of the island from malaria. Dr Robert Koch 1900-1901", and it was made by the Austrian Engelhart.

The eventful and moving history of the island of Brijuni is still omnipresent in cultural exhibitions too. Thus on the island one finds not only an archaeological collection explaining the isle's geomorphology, but also memorials to the Austrians and, of course, to Tito, probably the most famous inhabitant. Beyond that you can inform yourself in the natural history museum about the characteristic flora and fauna and learn something about the ancient and medieval history of today's national park from copies of frescoes and inscriptions typical of the country.

Even though hardly any new buildings are erected in the Brijuni National Park today and the old structures are slowly giving way to nature again, visits to the ruins remain impressive too. Distributed across the island you can find, for example, the church of Saint Mary, a castle on a hill and an old castrum. Besides these "official" buildings, however, the private dwelling house of a Roman family is also well preserved considering the circumstances, and knowledgeable observers will be able to draw conclusions about life in ancient times from the arrangement of the remains of walls and columns alone. This villa is still to be found today in Verige bay.