Pavlovac
Well, this is a very special one for me. Never thought I would ever find this place! In the winter of 2018 on our way from Zagreb to the Plitvice Lakes, I passed Pavlovac before. Then, I didn't stop but tried to get a picture of what it was like on the ground after checking back home through Google Earth. As I expected, it was only a few houses not even visible well from the road and we simply passed and moved on. In the summer of 2024 we did stop, and even found out who was actually on the photo.
A settlement in Pavlovac with the great-grandfather
of the current owner, 1926. Photo: Kurt Hielscher.
The settlement on the 27th of July 2024. Photo: Casper Molenaar. Notice the stone post which is still there.
When I stopped the van in front of the house where a family was gathering, I immediately jumped out with Kurt Hielscher's book under my arm and showed the photo, that was immediately recognized as the one hanging at the wall above the mantel in their house! I asked if I could see it and was warmly welcomed into their house. And yes, there it was, next to some family pics and another one that Kurt Hielscher made from Jajce in Bosnia, the place of origin of the mother of the family.
Prints of the photos on page 28 and 117 of Kurt Hielscher's "Jugoslavien" photoalbum from 1926 hanging on the wall in the family house. In his book the village is called Pablovac instead of Pavlovac.
I was guided by the man of the house through the extensive gardens. He told me the man on the photo was the granddad of his father! With pride he showed me his land and the rental holiday houses, the football field in the woods behind one of them and the characteristic stone from the photo. It was still there, but new houses had replaced the ones on the photo.
My oldest son playing with a cat.
Our van parked in front of Guest House Emanuela
And Guest House Mihovil and surroundings including the soccerfield.
Meanwhile at the neighbors.
Before we ended up here, we first made a stop at another house where we were welcomed by a dog and a man.
Acces road to the house.
Turned out, after lively conversations, that he, nor his wife and mother who popped up halfway the conversation could help me. He did not recognize the photo. It could be everywhere according to him and he told me that all the houses of Pavlovac were damaged or even burnt to the ground during the war of the '90s. He advised me to ask a few hundred meters further on where a family had some holiday houses for rent. Maybe they knew? They did as shown here above.
Below: Waterfalls of nearby Rastoke.
