Nova Gorica Establishes Public Institute Goriški Muzej Kromberk

The City Council of the Municipality of Nova Gorica has adopted a new decree that comprehensively regulates the operation of the public institute Goriški muzej Kromberk – Nova Gorica, published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia (Uradni list RS) No. 1429/2026 of 15 September 2026. The institute, whose short name is Goriški muzej, is the legal successor of the Okrajni muzej v Solkanu, established by decision of the Okrajni ljudski odbor Gorica on 5 September 1952.

The decree was adopted at the City Council’s session of 18 June 2026, on the legal basis of Article 3 of the Zakon o zavodih, Article 26 of the Zakon o uresničevanju javnega interesa za kulturo (ZUJIK), Article 101 of the Zakon o varstvu kulturne dediščine and Article 19 of the Statut Mestne občine Nova Gorica. It aligns the institute’s status, its relations with the founder and the fundamental questions of organisation, activity and financing with current legislation.

Founder and legal succession

The sole founder is the Municipality of Nova Gorica (Trg Edvarda Kardelja 1, 5000 Nova Gorica), which exercises its founding rights through the City Council. The municipality became the legal successor and sole founder on the basis of the division balance sheets set out in Sklep II and Sklep III on the division of property between the Municipality of Nova Gorica and the Municipality of Renče-Vogrsko.

• Before this decree, the former municipalities of Nova Gorica, Ajdovščina, Sežana and Tolmin were registered in the court register as founders.
• The Municipality of Nova Gorica took over the founding rights, obligations and property in full through the contract of 14 December 2004.
• The institute’s seat is Grajska cesta 1, Kromberk, 5002 Nova Gorica, and its sign bears the stylised letters GM.

Mission and territorial scope

The institute’s mission is to provide the permanent, quality and uninterrupted performance of museum activity as a public service across the wider Gorizia region. It works in the fields of history, ethnology, archaeology, art history, natural science, conservation and restoration.

• Core territory: the municipalities of Nova Gorica, Ajdovščina, Vipava, Šempeter-Vrtojba, Brda, Kanal, Miren-Kostanjevica, Sežana, Komen, Divača and Renče-Vogrsko.
• In Idrija and Cerkno, it cooperates with the public institute Mestni muzej Idrija; in Tolmin, Bovec and Kobarid, with the Tolminski muzej.
• For fine arts from the early 20th century onwards, it cooperates with Mestni muzej Idrija, Tolminski muzej and the Pilonova galerija v Ajdovščini.

Governance and financing

The institute has three organs: the director, the svet zavoda (council) and the strokovni svet (expert council). The director is appointed by the founder through a public call for a five-year mandate, and the council of the institute has five members — three founder representatives, one workers’ representative and one representative of the majority financer.

The institute manages the castle building at Grajska ulica 1 in Kromberk, the Vila Bartolomei with its park at Pod Vinogradi 2 in Solkan, and the former Pristava border-crossing building. It is financed from the founder’s budget, state budget funds, grants, ticket sales, market sales, donations and sponsorship. The founder answers subsidiarily for the institute’s obligations up to the amount of the current year’s budget funds.

The decree repeals the previous founding decree (Uradni list RS No. 142/04, 33/09 and 8/16) and enters into force fifteen days after publication. The institute must align its general acts with the new decree within six months. The decree was signed by the Mayor of the Municipality of Nova Gorica, Samo Turel.

For readers, the decree gives the region’s central museum a modern, legally sound framework, securing the continuity of a public service that has operated since 1952 and clarifying its role, territory and financing for the municipalities and citizens of the wider Gorizia region.

Source: Uradni list Republike Slovenije (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia), No. 1429/2026, 15 September 2026, section I, p. 1–13 (official reference: 2026-01-2089).