www.speleophilately.com
 

In the middle of the 19th century caving and speleological activities were well developed in Kranjska (Carniola). Modern cave tourism started to evolve since 1819 and from a regional name Kras (Karst, Carso) a scientific term "Karst" derived.

In 1839 important explorations started in order to find water for Trieste water supply. Schmidl's bock "Die Grotten und Höhlen van Adelsberg, ..." (1854) is considered as the first modern speleological work. F. Kraus, Vienna took an interest in our karst by 1878.

In 1879 he founded "Verein for Höhlenkunde" and a year later "Karst Comité" in the frame of "Österreichischen Touristenklub", including members important for the exploration of our karst: van Hauer, van Hochstetter, J. Szombathy, E. Windischgrätz, E. Suess.

How important our karst was for Kraus proves the tact that scan afterwards he wanted to set up a branch of Verein für Höhlenkunde and Österreichischen Touristenklub respectively.

In Planina he had 50 future members already. In 1883 "Deutsche und Österreichische Alpen Verein" founded "Section Küstenland" with Cave department soon afterwards. Around Postojna reliable inhabitants reported to Kraus data on water level and floods and they were prospecting the surface above Postojnska jama cave.

One of first Putick's works achieved in Kranjska was the location of the entrances to Postojnska jama system. On the wall at the end of Stara jama passage in Jama near Predjama is the inscription "Slovenski gadje 21N 82" (Slovene vipers). "Special" tourists (cave beetle collectors for example) visited non-tourist parts of Postojnska jama and numerous other caves in vicinity.

In summer of 1889 same villagers of Veliki Qtok near Postojna discovered the entrance to so-called Otoška jama, making a part of Postojnska jama system. The dispute about the ownership and how to share the income of Postojnska jama aroused. And soon afterwards in case of the Baradla Cave in the southern Gemer, in 1856 the Slovenské Noviny (Slovak Newspaper) informed in a more extensively way of A. Schmidl's lecture based on its research, which was presented in the mathematic-naturalistic department of the Academy of Science by himself.

In the Sokol magazine F. Sasinka's article can be qualified as a substantially longer and a more important one. In this he mentioned on the basis of C. Thiele's older work a character of its spaces, an origin of the cave name, local findings, R. Townson's visit, etc.
In 1876 the Skalickỷ Obzor and the Slovak Annual for History, Topography, Archeology, and Ethnography informed of excavations of E. Nyáry and E. Péchy in the Baradla Cave, whose realization was influenced by the Archeological Congress in Budapest in the same year. In 1882 in the Obzor there was written about opening a hut for wayfarers near the Baradla Cave. This was realized thanks to R. Townson who visited it at the end of the 18th century and published his knowledge of it. It caused, that in 1801 Ch. Raisz, a county engineer of the Gemer District undertook to measure it and later there were realized another researches.