Awareness of the benefits of outdoor physical activity and spending time in nature, as well as the need to protect the natural environment, is not a feature of the modern era alone: it can be traced back over a century. The “Friends of Nature” (Naturfreunde) society, established to provide access to nature mainly for lower-income social classes, was among the key forerunners of contemporary environmental movements. The organisation developed an extensive network of branches not only within the Austro-Hungarian Empire but also beyond its borders. This paper examines the activities of the Society’s Slovenian branches. As archival materials about the Jesenice branch are rather limited, special focus has been placed on the Maribor branch.
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