Alojz Knafelc (23 June 1859 – 26 April 1937) was a Slovene

cartographer Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

, mountaineer and the inventor of the Slovene

trail blaze Trail blazing or way marking is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with signs or markings that follow each other at certain, though not necessarily exactly defined, distances and mark the direction of the trail. A blaz ...

Life and work

Knafelc was born in

Šmihel pri Novem Mestu Šmihel pri Novem Mestu (; ) is a former village in southeastern Slovenia in the City Municipality of Novo Mesto. It was annexed by the city of Novo Mesto in 1979, ending its existence as an independent settlement.''Spremembe naselij 1948–95''. ...

. At first he worked as a drawer for the project of constructing the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

connection between

Hrpelje Hrpelje (, in older sources ''Herpelje''; Italian: ''Erpelle'') is a settlement in the Municipality of Hrpelje-Kozina in the Littoral region of Slovenia. It is the administrative center of the municipality. Geography Hrpelje is located in a heavil ...

and

Kozina Kozina (; ) is a settlement in the Municipality of Hrpelje-Kozina in the Slovenian Littoral, Littoral region of Slovenia, close to the border with Italy.measurement tables. Several times he recoloured the

Aljaž Tower Aljaž Tower () or the Triglav Tower () is a tower, a storm shelter and a triangulation point on the summit of Mount Triglav in northwestern Slovenia. Along with Triglav, it is a landmark of Slovenia and a symbol of the Slovenehood. The tower was ...

Triglav Triglav (; ; ), with an elevation of , is the highest mountain in Slovenia and the highest peak of the Julian Alps. The mountain is the pre-eminent symbol of the Slovene nation, appearing on the Coat of arms of Slovenia, coat of arms and Flag ...

. He also wrote the instructions on path-blazing, published in 1922 in the Alpine Gazette (). He died in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

Knafelc blaze

The Knafelc blaze, introduced in 1922, is a white dot inside a red ring. The outer diameter should be between , with the inner radius about half of the outer radius. A variant with a yellow dot in the center is used for the

European long-distance paths The European long-distance paths (E-paths) are a network of long-distance footpaths that traverse Europe. While most List of long-distance footpaths, long-distance footpaths on the continent are located in just one country or region, each of th ...

E6 and E7. A variant with a green ring around a red ring and a white dot in the center is used on the borders of the country. The ''Knafelc blaze'' () was later used all over

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and is prescribed for Slovenia by the 2007 Mountain Paths Act ().

References

Knafelc's biography
Bojan Bračič. 2009. Published by the Post of Slovenia.

External links

* 1859 births 1937 deaths Slovenian inventors Slovenian cartographers Slovenian mountain climbers People from the Urban Municipality of Novo Mesto Inventors from Austria-Hungary {{Explorer-stub