A Town of Superb Poetry and Wines

"Karlovci! Karlovci is indeed something else that is pure!", renowned Serbian author Miloš Crnjanski said of the town to which he would often and gladly return.

By Danica Radović
Photo by Milan Melka

A presentation of Sremski Karlovci, the only historic town in Serbia protected by a special law, would include the following keywords and phrases: for many centuries the mainstay of Serbian culture and spirituality; the venue of the Metropolitanate (1713) and see of the Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarchate, the first diplomatic "round table" in Europe (1699) – the Chapel of the Lady of Peace, the first Serb elementary school (1726), the first Serbian theater performance (1736), the first art school (1743), the first European-style ball (1745), the first clerical school – the Karlovci Theological School (1749), the first Serbian printing office and copper-etching workshop (1758), the Orthodox Church Cathedral (1762), the first Serbian secondary school – the Karlovci Gymnasium (1792), the first public library (1794), the first pharmacy (1807), the location of the proclamation of Serbian Vojvodina (Duchy) – at the May Assembly (1848), Napredak – the first newspaper applying reformed orthography (1848), an Imperial Manifesto on the town's status establishing a Magistrat (Town Hall, 1881), and the place where the relics of Serbian Romantic poet Branko Radičević were transferred from Vienna (to Stražilovo, 1883)...

We open the story about Sremski Karlovci – in many ways a remarkable place – a Serbian "Potsdam" on the slopes of Mt. Fruška Gora, in a somewhat unusual manner by recalling the Titanic.

The Titanic, perhaps the most famous ship of the previous century, sailed for a mere four days: it cast off from Southampton in fine spring weather at noon on April 10, 1912, and sank on the night of April 14-15, after colliding with an iceberg. The legends about this ship, and its secrets, have been circling since, for nearly a whole century. One of them takes us to Sremski Karlovci, located in an area between the broad banks of the Danube River and the wavy hills of Mr. Fruška Gora, the only mountain in Pannonia.

The wine list on the Titanic, among many other drinks and wines from famous French and Italian cellars, also contained the famous ausspruch wine called samotok. This is a special top-quality wine produced traditionally for more than a century and a half at Sremski Karlovci in the Živanović cellars – an old Karlovci family.

But the famous Karlovci wines, so admired in the court of Maria Theresia as well as at the dining table of Queen Victoria, will be discussed a bit later.

And so, following the trail of the Titanic wine list, we arrive to Sremski Karlovci, some 10 minutes from Novi Sad by car, and just under one hour from Belgrade. Geographically, this renowned tourist destination belongs to the Srem region. It is situated on a natural water route – the Danube River – which to this day continues to be Europe's major land waterway.

And it was precisely the Danube that had a hand in shaping the fate of Sremski Karlovci: this is where contacts were made in pre-historic times between the cultures of Central European, the Balkan Peninsula and the cultures of the southeast. Here, the arrival of the ancient Romans left indelible marks.

Karlovci, which was officially mentioned as a castle town, or Karom, in 1308, was at the time of the Roman Empire on the very line of the Limes Romanus (border defense).

Although no ancient finds or inscriptions testifying to the existence of a significant Roman presence were found in Sremski Karlovci, one Roman emperor left a mark that is still present in the 21^st century. Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Probus (232–282) abolished a decree by Emperor Titus Flavius Domitianus, issued in the year 92, prohibiting the planting of vineyards in the so-called provincial regions of the Roman Empire. Emperor Probus had vines brought to Mt. Fruška Gora where he personally supervised the planting of vineyards. It was in a mutiny over this hard work that Probus was assassinated by his troops...The emperor disappeared from history's stage, as did the Roman Empire, but the vineyards on Mt. Fruška Gora and in the Sremski Karlovci area still abound. For many decades Mt. Fruška Gora and Sremski Karlovci have represented one of the major winegrowing regions in Serbia, as well as in this part of Europe.

At the time of great migrations, many barbarian tribes – such as the Goths, Huns, Gepids and Avars – made their way through here, while the South Slavs completed their settling here by the seventh century. They first accepted the authority of the Byzantine Empire, then of Hungary and much later that of Austro-Hungary.

Many landmark historical events for the Serbian people occurred in Sremski Karlovci. Evidence of the glorious history, culture and spirituality of this place, as well as that of tourists and travelers, may be found in the Treasury of the Patriarchate Court, in the Karlovci Gymnasium library, in the Upper Church and Lower Church, in the Cathedral Church, in the Catholic Church and in five other chapels of which the Chapel of Peace is the best known, in the local Archives of the Serbian Arts and Sciences Academy, in the Theological School building and library, at Stražilovo, and in the Court Garden... However, there is hardly a house and section of Sremski Karlovci that does not bear some historical mark, some chronicle of middle-class and once famous families, and many personages from Serbian culture and spirituality.

The best Serbian artists of the past executed paintings and sculptures for Karlovci churches and squares: from such masters of copperetching as Zaharije Orfelin to the renowned 18^th-century painters Dimitrije Bačević, Georgije Bakalović, Teodor Kračun and Jakov Orfelin, and later on Paja Jovanović, Uroš Predić, sculptor Djordje Jovanović... Many works of art, valuable religious paraphernalia and relics, and thousands of books from Karlovci libraries perished in wartime looting and fires at the hands of the socalled Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World War II. But there still remain enough works of art, architectural and art objects to testify to the town's glorious past.

And, at long last, about the Karlovci wines!

The 60-odd wine cellars, down from the hundred in the period between the two World Wars, today produce quality wines and even top-grade wines from old and new types of grapes, as well as rare brands of dessert wines. The best known of these latter are the Karlovci bermet and ausspruch. Bermet, red and white, is manufactured in specially prepared casks into which 27 different spices and spice plants are placed before wine is added. Ausspruch is a dessert wine made from flawless grapes. Use of an old recipe makes for an irresistible taste that captivated, among others, the imperial court in Vienna.

– When at that time Karlovci Serbs sought special privileges from the imperial court in Vienna and Maria Theresia, they would invariably take ausspruch with them. This was called 'discretion', and for good reason... – says Žarko, currently head of the Živanović family wine cellars. He is also one of the best honey producers in Srem and a beekeeping instructor at the Theological School in Karlovci. He also manages his own, small private Museum of Beekeeping located in the same courtyard as the old wine cellars dug into a hill, where 'Živanović white wine' as well as Riesling, Cabernet, Gamay, and 'Red Probus'... may be sampled and obtained.

Actually, ausspruch always preceded the audience itself. The arrival of a Serb delegation followed. Under such circumstances, so they say, the doors of the royal court in Vienna would then open of their own accord...!

Top-grade brandies from nearly all types of fruit, including plums, apples, grapes, peaches, quince... are made here as well. They are all natural, without any additives, from superior quality fruits that are scrupulously picked, as well as from cultivated types of sweet grapes supplemented and enriched by the sun, the light breeze from Mr. Fruška Gora called stražilovac and the reflections from the Danube waters.

It is in this universal, life-giving trinity of the sun, air and water that Sremski Karlovci has endured through the centuries and charmed each and every visitor.

A charter Emperor Leopold II issued in 1791 endorsed the founding of the Karlovci Gymnasium. Renowned students of the Karlovci Gymnasium included Sima Milutinović Sarajlija, Dimitrije Davidović, Stefan Šupljikac, Jovan Subotić, Branko Radičević, Djordje Natošević, Jovan Sterija Popović, Vasa Stajić, Dejan Medaković, Borislav Mihajlović Mihiz, Vida Ognjenović...