Hlapić and his boot

“Children from orphanages and shelters rarely had an opportunity for secondary education. They would most often be sent to apprentice and vocational schools to be trained for a particular occupation. The basic principle of educating orphans was to enable them to earn their own bread as soon as possible. Boys would earn their bread as apprentices in various professions and girls as maids, servants and nannies.”

(From the exhibition catalogue As Hlapić and Gita – orphans in Croatia at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century by Štefka Batinić.)

Our Museum treasures some of the school papers and tasks solved by pupils during their training in apprentice schools. Come to our museum workshop and discover for yourself whether those were difficult or very simple! Our small and big visitors can take part in a special needlework workshop Hlapić and his boot. While a nineteenth-century teacher tells the story, we’ll be making boots. Find out how and what of by participating in the workshop. What you put in your boot is entirely up to you!

Duration: 45 minutes.

Participants: elementary and secondary school pupils, adults.