UKO KROPA - Wrought Iron with Tradition

In 1953 the town of Kropa became the first in Slovenia to be designated a national cultural monument thanks to its long iron-forging heritage. Through the centuries in a narrow gorge beneath the Jelovica Plateau the blacksmiths of Kropa — in fire and iron — “forged” a unique social and personal character out of a very distinct dialect, habits and customs.

Archaeological evidence from the period of Antiquity, including Celtic coins and the remains of a Roman waterway, points to the fact that the area of present-day Kropa was in all probability one of the central sources of the famed Noric Steel. This tradition of iron-forging in the region is confirmed by the existence of the “Slovene Furnace” from the 13th-14th century, the oldest remaining smelting furnace of its kind in Europe. Centuries later the iron-forgers in Kropa built another furnace farther down the stream springing from the mountainside and the place became known for a time as the “Alte hammer” or old hammer. In 1481 the people of Kropa built a new stone church over the ruins of an older wooden one, dedicating it to St. Leonard, the protector of Kropa. A settlement began to grow around the ironworks and blacksmith workshops whose economy for the next centuries was built around iron-forging. From 1550, when the future Emperor Ferdinand I awarded special iron-forging privileges to the quickly growing town, Kropa became an independent community led and administered by a blacksmith magistrate.

The 17th and 18th centuries can be thought of as the Golden Age of iron-forging in Kropa. During this period more than 130 different kinds and sizes of nails were forged in the town, carrying its renown across the entire Mediterranean region. Iron workers and blacksmiths in Kropa sold and traded their nails to ensure their existence and to broaden their horizons, while more artistically minded wrought-iron creations they kept for themselves. Iron shutters and doors, latches and decorative window bars already began to ornament the houses in Kropa during this time. This tradition, begun by unknown and unnamed smiths, was most widespread at the end of the 19th century when industrial development finally made classic iron-working methods obsolete, and continues in the noble iron testaments to expression of today.

When the nail forging co-operative that was founded in 1894 halted the decline of Kropa, the foundations of a work plan focusing on wrought-iron crafts was also established at the same time. Training both abroad and at home in the following decades elevated Kropa wrought-iron blacksmithing to an envious level, especially with the work of the great master of the hammer and pen Joža Bertoncelj. In 1956 the wrought iron department of the former co-op, later known as Plamen, was reformed into the independent company UKO Kropa.

Today, UKO Kropa Ltd. combines the preservation of tradition with its continuation, stepping into the new century with a vision of wrought iron forging founded on the collaboration between designers, artists and forging artists. This vision looks beyond old-fashioned wrought iron designs to explore new perspectives.

50th anniversary of UKO Kropa

50 years have past since we at UKO Kropa first lit the hearth-fires, rolled up our sleeves and with powerful blacksmith blows forged the next chapter in the rich 700-year tradition of iron-forging in Kropa. Just how great was the artistic inspiration of our beginning is witnessed in the number of high quality designed iron products, whose fame both at home and around the world is proven by the renown of numerous Kropa forging artists.