Hostel Pekarna

Castle Square

Castle square was named after the castle and is one of the many squares in Maribor, filled with history and magnificent buildings. 

The history of the square is rich and full of stories and tales that are still alive among the present-day inhabitants of Maribor. A truly special story is the one about the Donkey's corner. It would be difficult to find a Maribor resident who hasn't heard of the famous Ezl ek, a corner where many of Maribor's highchool youth came of age. Ezl ek is located in front of the Café Astoria and was from the end of the World War II until the late 1980s a beloved meeting point of Maribor's highschool youth. The corner was named by the teachers who weren't too pleased by the fact that their pupils would gather and hang out in front of their beloved café. 

The Ezlekers were the main Maribor's hotshots who always kept their finger on the pulse of what was happening locally, often they themselves were a part of those happenings. Today, every Ezleker would gladly share a story or two from those care-free times they spent at their Ezl ek. 

Another special little corner of the Castle Square is the one where the bright future of Maribor shone through. In 1883, a big steam mill owned by Karl Schebaum stood on the Castle Square. Mr Schebaum was struck by an idea that would change the future of Maribor. He connected an electricity generating dynamo to the steam machine and so the first 36 light bulbs in Maribor illuminated his business premises. It was only 3 years prior that T.A. Edison patented the light bulb in the USA. A light bulb also illuminated the entrance into the house of the Schebaum family. Thus, this was the first time that an electric light bulb brought light to Maribor, Slovenia and this part of Europe. 

Unfortunately, after that the development of electrification in Maribor slowed down because the electricity was simply too expensive for the end user and was not yet introduced into general use. 

Among the first to use the "new3 technology" were the Southern Railways, which installed 3 dynamos for lighting. In 1900, Götz's brewery produced approximately 30 kW of power for the plant's needs with a three-phase generator. 

The construction of the Falska Elektrarna enabled Maribor and its surroundings to accelerate electrification.