DFW C.V

In 2018, an amateur researcher discovered parts of an unknown aircraft from the First World War in the area of the Bohinj-Tolmin Mountains. In the following years, archaeological excavations were carried out at the crash site, which confirmed with a multitude of finds that it was a German DFW C.V. aircraft.

In researching the material legacy of the conflicts of the 20th century, aviation has not been talked about much so far. Until recently, only a few individuals who still remember the stories of the event knew about the wreckage of the fallen plane and the rescued aviator from the First World War in the slopes above Kneške Ravne. A comprehensive archaeological-historical survey provided a heap of findings that lifted the aircraft and crew out of anonymity.

Today we know that the German reconnaissance biplane DFW C.V, with its crew, consisting of pilot non-commissioned officer Wilhelm Bolte and observer Edmund von Glaß, made its last flight on October 16, 1917. On a reconnaissance flight into the hinterland behind the Italian front line, it was ambushed by the Italians and damaged in air combat to such an extent that it was unable to make an emergency landing. It crashed onto the hard-to-reach slope of Rodica. Both crew members survived the crash, but the following hours were fatal for the pilot, while von Glaß managed to survive by a lucky coincidence and passed on his story to his descendants after the war.

The exhibition, prepared by archaeologist Dr. Uroš Košir and historian Marko Ličina, completes the story of the crashed plane with photographs and found remains. With a thorough historical research of sources and literature on aviation during the First World War, the authors placed the fateful event in a historical framework that brings the story closer to a wider circle of lovers of military and technical history.

The exhibition is the result of cooperation between the Tolminski muzej Museum and the Museum of Recent and Contemporary History of Slovenia, and the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana, the Military Museum of the Slovenian Armed Forces, the Municipality of Tolmin and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia also contributed to its realization.