The voice that
lasts
Prvi i jedini dedicirani interpretacijski centar za UNESCO-ovu vokalnu nematerijalnu baštinu posvećen Međimurskoj popevki.
Međimurska popevka tradicijska je vokalna baština sjeverozapadne Hrvatske, čiji najstariji sačuvani zapis seže u 13. stoljeće.
Pjeva se u izvornom kajkavskom dijalektu, najčešće a cappella, s ritmom koji prati glas, ne metronom.
In 2018, it was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The Palace of Međimurje Popevka in Donja Dubrava is the first Croatian interpretation center dedicated exclusively to it.
The song is not kept under glass — it is sung, transmitted, and handed down, just like eight centuries ago.
Posjet vodi kroz šest tematskih cjelina u prostoru Hirschlerove palače — od korijena popevke u 13. stoljeću do njezinih suvremenih izvedbi i instrumentarija.
From "Narodil nam se" (13th century) to the first collectors — pentatonic, old church modes, the geographical anchor "insula inter Muram et Dravam".
Singers, collectors, academics — Žganec, Bajuk, Teta Liza, Cecilija Merkač Hudopisk — a network that transmits song through time.
Pentatonic, Dorian, Lydian and Mixolydian modes, free rubato and drawn-out parlando — why popevka sounds different from everything else.
A poem in the original Kajkavian language — love, melancholy, humorous, sacred. What they sang, why they sang, how to understand the layers of meaning.
Popevka u 21. stoljeću — Patricija Juračić, Cinkuši, Žiga — kako tradicija živi u suvremenim reinterpretacijama bez gubitka srži.
A cymbal, tambourine, accordion, clarinet — and a central listening room where the voice gets space. A place to sit, listen, and take the song home.
Donja Dubrava lies at the very confluence of the Mura and Drava rivers — a geographical point that symbolizes the entire Međimurje region. It is where Elizabeta Toplek "Teta Liza" (1924–2017), the most famous contemporary icon of pop singing and a two-time winner of the Porin award, was born, lived, and was buried.
The Palace itself — the Hirschler Palace — is a historic building associated with the Ujlaki-Hirschler company, which began the economic turnaround of Donja Dubrava in 1828. Today, almost two centuries later, the same building preserves the reputation of the town.
The oldest preserved verse of a Međimurje carol is a Christmas carol from the 13th century. The carol has been passed down through generations in oral tradition.
Vinko Žganec, a Međimurec native from Vratišinec, began 65 years of systematic recording of folk songs. By 1973, he had recorded around 6,000 songs from approximately 475 singers.
The Festival — today the largest pop song festival — begins in Nedelišće. The 41st edition was held in June 2025 with 27 performers.
At the 13th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO in Port Louis (Mauritius), the song was included in the list of intangible heritage of humanity. File 01396, decision 13.COM 10.b.9.
U Hirschlerovoj palači u Donjoj Dubravi otvara se prvi dedicirani interpretacijski centar za UNESCO vokalnu nematerijalnu baštinu u sjevernoj Hrvatskoj.
Popevka lives on thanks to a network of approximately 50 recognized master transmitters and 19+ active cultural organizations from Međimurje, Slovenia and the diaspora.
singer, ethnologist, author
Keeper of the song, Donja Dubrava
contemporary interpretation
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