World War I Memorial Plaque

Fužine is a small mountain village in Gorski Kotar, the forested highland behind the Kvarner coast, set among lakes and woods at around 700 metres above sea level. It is known today as a place for quiet holidays, with Lake Bajer and Lake Lepenica as the main attractions, and walkers and cyclists pass through in summer. The World War I Memorial Plaque in the village recalls a very different time, the years from 1914 to 1918, when men from places like this were drawn into one of the largest wars in history, the Great War, a European catastrophe.

At that time, Croatia was part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and young men from villages across Gorski Kotar, Lika, Dalmatia and Slavonia were conscripted into the imperial army. Many served on distant fronts, in the Carpathians, the Isonzo valley along the Italian border and the Balkans, and a large number never returned. Disease, cold and hunger killed as many as battles did, and families waited years for news. After the war, communities across Europe put up monuments to the dead, and the plaques, crosses and statues that remain in many Croatian villages are often the only public record of what those men endured.

Memorials of this kind are usually modest. A plaque like the one in Fužine is a simple tablet fixed to a wall or set in a stone, often carrying an inscription and sometimes a list of names, and it is placed where residents pass every day so that the dead are not forgotten. Details such as the wording, the date of its installation and the exact names are best checked on the spot, where the inscription can be read directly. Treat the place with quiet respect; it is not a tourist spectacle, but a small act of remembrance.

Fužine offers plenty to combine with a pause at the plaque. The lakes lie within walking distance, with a footpath linking Lake Lepenica and Lake Bajer, and the View of Lake Lepenica is a favourite stop for photographers. The village has guesthouses, cafés and small restaurants serving mountain dishes, and the surrounding forest has marked walking and cycling routes. The railway and the old road that pass through the area reflect its long role as a link between the coast and the interior.

The plaque suits visitors with an interest in the history of the First World War and local memory, and it takes only a few minutes to see. It fits naturally into a day of walking in the village and around the lakes.