Klopotec

Away, birds, away!
Take a little and leave a little,
And do not come again;
For if you do,
I will shoot you through,
And there will be an end of you.

Mother Goose (The Bird scare)

Autumn is surely one of the most colorful parts of the year. More than 60% of Slovenian territory changes it couloir from fresh green to yellowish, orange, reddish and brownish shades. While admire ring to beauties of changing colors, you can be disturbed by a funny sound. These are our Klopotec or Bird scare.

September is the month when our wine producers are in the best mood. Sun with its gentle touch is embracing the grapes which are getting the last sweet ingredients. And birds are happy as well…however, they are not that welcome in this time of the year!

Klopotec - a Slovenian rattle is a wooden mechanical device on a high wooden pole, similar to a windmill. It is used as a scare in the vineyards of traditional wine-growing landscapes of Slovenia and is a part of our cultural heritage. The rattle in the Slovene Hills typically has four blades (there are some exceptions). It is driving an axis with a sail or vane that is constructed to swivel so it is always positioned perpendicular to the wind. As the axis rotates, wooden hammers are lifted off their resting position by fixed notches. As they fall back, they rhythmically impact on a wooden board. The quality of the sound depends on the wood of which the hammers and sounding boards are made of. When on our off the beaten path private tour we have a chance to admire the wavy vineyard countryside where they are put as well as to hear it’s distinguish sound.

The device is used primarily to scare starlings and other birds off the vineyards so that they do not peck grapes. A folk belief also states that klopotec drives snakes from the vineyards and soften grapes. In Catholic folk music of its region of origin, it is sometimes combined with an organ stop and used as a rural church instrument.

As a symbol of Slovenia, klopotec was featured on the stamp worth 13 Slovenian tolars in 1997 (the stamp was a part of the collection Slovenija - Evropa v malem = "Slovenia - Europe in Miniature"). Also, one of the meetings of Slovenian folk musicians that happens annually is called Veseli klopotec = "Happy Klopotec". And after klopotec an award for the best popular song in a Slovene dialect for that year is named and conferred to the author by the Slovenian Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for the Protection of Copyright (SAZAS). The award is called Zlati klopotec ("Golden Klopotec").

On the other hand, if you do not have too much time, you are most welcome on one of our private guided tour where you can get some more stories behind the scene. If you would like to involve your senses as well, than you should join us on our popular Ljubljana Food Tour, where we could reveal the secrets behind Slovenian wine production as well as taste the food that should not be missed while in Slovenia!

Tip: Text in bold - look at the wiki page!