Vrhnika experienced its golden era in the
17th century. This was a direct result of its favorable position
along the main state road. All traffic from Trieste traveled to Ljubljana Basin
and from here to Ljubljana via the river Ljubljanica. Visits from Austrian
emperors attest to Vrhnika’s importance – in 1660 the Austrian Emperor Leopold
I. visited Vrhnika, and in 1728 he was followed by the Austrian Emperor Charles
VI.
Upon completion of the imperial road Vienna-Trieste
in 1806, transportation by boat slowly started to die out. Transportation over
long distances was gaining on popularity. Most frequently horse and cart
drivers (‘furmani’) from Vrhnika rode north to Mürzzuschlag and south to
Mantova. The name of Hotel Mantova at Cankar’s market is reminiscent of that
era.
At that time Vrhnika experienced economic
downturn, which it had slowly overcome with the help of new industries. The
exploitation of large forests in the nearby karst hinterland began. Never before
and afterwards there were so many sawmills alongside the powerful springs of
the Ljubljanica as there were at the end of the 19th century. Additionally,
the local railway Ljubljana-Vrhnika was completed in 1899 and it had also
influenced the development of new industries (brick making, leather, wood,
dairy industries).
In the second half
of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century Vrhnika was
characterized by some of the most prominent Slovenian artists - writer and
playwright Ivan Cankar, painters Simon Ogrin, Joseph Petkovšek and Matej Sternen.