History of our school

Since 1911, the school building of the former National School of Crafts on Aškerčeva Street in Ljubljana has provided space for various educational activities. With the help of the then Mayor of Ljubljana, Ivan Hribar, and the first headmaster, Ivan Šubic, Slovenians were given their own secondary school, where the language of instruction from the very beginning was Slovene. The variety of programmes sought to raise the development of the craft and technical industries in Kranj and in the other lands of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, where the Slovene nation lived, to a European level.

The first departments of the school of crafts in the monarchy at that time focused on building construction, mechanical-technical (metal) crafts, building and furniture joinery, wood and stone sculpture, and the Public School of Drawing and Modelling and the Women's School of Crafts operated as fully autonomous schools.

After the end of World War I, in 1920, the school was renamed and transformed into the Technical High School in the new country of the Kingdom of SHS. The level of instruction and education was raised, but students who successfully completed their studies at the Technical School could not, according to the legislation of the time, continue their education at university. The following institutions were operating at that time: The State Technical School with an architectural-construction, mechanical and electrical engineering department, the State School of Master Craftsmen with a construction, mechanical, electrical, carpentry and wood-turning department, the State School of Men's Craftsmen with a sculpture, carving, ceramics and engraving department, the State School of Women's Craftsmen with three departments for tailoring, sewing and embroidery, and the Banovina School of Musical Instruments.

After the Second World War, the need for technical professions in the fields of woodworking, chemistry, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and civil engineering grew in parallel with the growing industrialisation. Vocations in these fields were educated at Aškerčeva Street and at the branch offices in Nova Gorica, Novo mesto, Kranj, Postojna, Celje, etc.

With social and economic development, vocational education also changed, new schools were established, programmes were changed and improved. The new social situation dictated a different organisation of schools or institutions, and in 2000 the Ljubljana School Centre was established with a single administration and five independent units.

In honour of the then Emperor Franz Joseph, the school's floor plan is in the shape of the initials F I. It was designed by the Czech architect A. Dvořak in the Art Nouveau style, which is reflected in the furnishings of the corridors and staircases and in the façade. The reliefs on the façade show the orientation of the school: figures with a saw, planer, hammer, six-bladed hammer, etc.

The school is located in a district where research and educational institutions, mainly in the natural sciences and engineering, are concentrated: the chemistry and natural sciences faculties are next door, the philosophy faculty is across the road, and the mechanical engineering, civil engineering and mathematics and physics faculties are nearby. Not far away is the city centre, with the Parliament and the Government Palace.