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During the occupation of Slovenia Germans used force labour to built a tunnel under the Ljubelj (Loibl) pass. This enhanced greatly it's importance as the shortest connection between Celovec (Klagenfurt) and Ljubljana and in the second part of the twentieth century, also due to the block division of the continent that excluded some other options, elevated it to the main traffic line between Northern and South-eastern Europe (axis Germany - Yugoslavia - Greece - Turkey). But before that the role of link between lands Charintia and Carniola and between their capitals Celovec (Klagenfurt) and Ljubljana was shared equally between Ljubelj pass and Jezersko pass (Seeberg Sattel). On the top of it the valley of the Kokra river with the hollow of Jezersko as it's conclusion had something rather affluent to it. Being such an important corridor it shall not come as a surprise that Germans protected the road with a series of small pillboxes that were protecting the guards from the infantry fire. German Denkschrifts states that the road has already been fortified by the kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1939-1941. But none of this fortifications was located yet. Bunkers presented here are clearly of differennt origin and were, according to the locals, built in spring of 1942, most likely as a respond to the strong communist led uprising in the Gorenjska (Upper Carniola) region. Even thou the uprising has failed and Germans quickly regain the control of the territory, partisan movement was far from being eliminated and presented a constant threat to German vital communications. As oppose to makeshift constructions built by German controlled local militias German pillboxes were usually built according to standardised plans. So on the road Kranj - Jezersko we find two typical types of bunkers: a rectangular and octagonal. The octagonal ones have one rifle embrasure on each side while the rectangular ones have two. In both cases the entries into pillboxes are protected by an adjoining wall that in some cases has an embrasure as well. On these particular road the pillboxes seem to be protecting every single bridge over the Kokra river. It was noted that during the recent reconstruction work on the road a lot of care has been taken to preserve all these bunkers. A highly commendable attitude towards this unusual historical heritage. The photos bellow are showing bunkers in the same order as they are lined along the road.

The old land border between Carniola and Charintia.

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