City Museum of Krško and Mencinger House

The City Museum of Krško (Mestni muzej Krško in Slovene), tasked with documenting, collecting, researching and presenting the cultural heritage of the town and Municipality of Krško, is housed in the renovated so-called Valvasor complex consisting of three houses: the late-Renaissance ‘Valvasor’ house and the adjacent Jarnovič and Kaplan houses with well-preserved late-Gothic elements. Together with the St John the Baptist’s Parish Church and the former Holy Spirit Church, this represent the finest part of Krško Old Town in terms of architectural value. In front of the house on the corner (Valvasor) house with a plaque honouring J. V. Valvasor dating back to the late 19th century, now stands a statue portraying the famous polymath, unveiled in 1966 and sculpted by sculptor and medallist Vladimir Štoviček, BFA in sculpture. And the first works of art to have been displayed as part of the permanent collection of the City Museum of Krško were actually by Vladimir Štoviček, presenting just a selection of the body of work that the artist donated to the Municipality of Krško on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
The City Museum of Krško was established in 1940. At the time, it was the first museum in the territory the Lower Sava Valley and was originally housed in the Valvasor house already. 9 years later, however, its director Franjo Stiplovšek had to remove all the collections. He found a new location for the museum at Brežice Castle, which became known under a new name: The Lower Sava Valley Museum (Posavski muzej in Slovene) in Brežice. But the museum story in Krško was reborn in 2009 when the City Museum of Krško was established as a branch of the Krško Cultural Centre. After a decade of operation, the Museum now presents a permanent collection and temporary exhibitions recounting important events and illustrious residents of Krško from various eras of the town’s rich history. Among them, we should highlight Janez Vajkard Valvasor (Johann Weikhard Freiherr von Valvasor in German) whose eventful life came to its end in Krško, the patron of the arts and industrialist Josipina Hočevar and the sculptor and medallist Vladimir Štoviček. 
In addition to historical displays, the Museum’s exhibits also reflect on the events from the more recent past and through this present the modern-day pace of our region and its people.

Also part of the Museum is a section of the Mencinger House (Mencingerjeva hiša in Slovene). The building, entirely renovated between 2010 and 2012, stands out thanks to its well-preserved architectural elements attesting to its rich history. During the renovation, its northern section revealed a rare find in Slovenia: wall paintings dating back to the 16th century and most likely associated with the Protestant movement that was widespread among the burghers of Krško at the time. Research conducted in the recent years has indeed proven that the southern building of the complex was in fact the last residence of Janez Vajkard Valvasor prior to his death, and in the late 19th century, the house was home to author, attorney and politician Janez Mencinger, whom the house in currently named after. With its permanent and temporary exhibitions and other museum programmes, the City Museum of Krško invites everyone to discover the cultural heritage of the town and Municipality of Krško.