Honorary chair

Honorary chair from Javorca

In 1916, when World War I raged in the Soča Valley, a simple wooden church was erected in the remote valley of the Tolminka River. It was built by soldiers of the 3rd Mountain Brigade of the 15th Austro‑Hungarian Corps. It was finished on November 1, just eight months after the start of construction, and dedicated to the Holy Spirit and to the many fallen comrades. This modest secession church in Javorca has been awarded the European Heritage Label, and is one of the most beautiful and noble monuments of World War I in the Soča Region.

Its author was Viennese artist Remigius Geyling (1878–1974), who, during construction, was a soldier in a nearby military camp located on the present-day Polog mountain pasture. In addition to architectural design and supervision of work, he also designed all the interior decoration and furnishings. Most of the elements are still in the church in their original form.

There are three honorary chairs in front of the first row of church benches. Their prototype has been housed in the Tolmin Museum since 2016. It was made in May 1916 by the Tyrol carver and artilleryman Anton Perathoner from Gröden, according to Geyling’s design. Together with the model of the church, the chair was exhibited at the Vienna Prater War Exhibition in 1917. Commemorating the centenary of the construction of the church in Javorca, this silent testament of war nobility and creativity returned to the Soča Region and became part of the Tolmin Museum’s art collections. The chair is made of yew wood, while the honorary chairs in the Church of the Holy Spirit are made of oak from the nearby Govnjač mountain pasture.