Credit: Municipality of Križ 
…“To show her gratitude in waterfalls’ hum
We selected one of singular beauty
To praise our fairy and perform its duty
Of defending her name for ages to come!”…
This year, we commemorate the 160th anniversary of the birth of Milka Trnina, the world-renown Croatian opera singer. She was born on 19 December 1863 in the town of Vezišće (present-day Municipality of Križ near Ivanić-Grad) and died on 18 May 1941 in Zagreb. As her death coincided with World War II, it took two more years for the news to spread across the world. Her last wish was to be buried to the Croatian anthem Our Beautiful Homeland.
Milka Trnina rose to fame by playing tragic heroines in Wagner’s operas but she was also known for her humanitarian work. On one occasion, she donated all the proceeds from an 1898 concert held at the Croatian National Theatre to the Association for the Conservation and Enhancement of the Plitvice Lakes and Their Surroundings. In turn, they named one of the most beautiful sets of waterfalls in the Lower Lakes after her. To this day, these remain the only waterfalls named after a famous person – during their lifetime, no less.
Credit: Municipality of Križ 
This event was described in a booklet called A Guide to the Plitvice Lakes from 1893 to 1928, published on the 35th anniversary of the foundation of the Association for the Conservation and Enhancement of the Plitvice Lakes and Their Surroundings. We bring you an amusing excerpt from the booklet:
During a series of guest opera performances of our renown opera singer Milka Trnina in Zagreb, our Association asked her to dedicate one of them to the Plitvice Lakes. She immediately obliged and in cooperation with the then intendant Stjepan pl. Miletić organised a farewell performance of Wagner’s Tannhäuser on 21 March 1898.
After the second act, once the shouts of praise and clapping had subsided, the curtain rose and Milka Trnina was welcomed onstage by the Board of the Plitvice Lakes Association. The first Vice-President of the Board Gustav Janeček greeted the artist with a long speech in which he thanked her on behalf of the Association for her noble dedication of the performance and said: “You have been crowned by gold and silver laurel wreaths, so the Plitvice Association is not here to offer you pennies, but a national treasure instead. If I may, I would now like to read you a message from the Association.”
He awarded a certificate to the artist by which the Association unanimously decided to name one of the Plitvice waterfalls after her – the Milka Trnina Waterfall, and continued: “Out there in the world, may this gift remind you of your lovely homeland and friends.” “Look,” he said and pointed to the picture of the waterfall named after the artist exhibited onstage. “The waterfall reflects gold and silver while the fairies greet their friend in unison – long live fairy Milka!” The impressed audience began clapping loudly and a myriad of flowers poured from the boxes, while notes with a special, dedicated poem scribbled on them fluttered down from the gallery and the balcony. The poem, the translation of which you can find below, was originally written in Croatian by Ivan vitez Trnski in honour of Milka Trnina:
Trnina Milka sung operas worldwide
And charmed Europe and America alike
Using her voice and her skills, which are godlike,
She left royalty and noblemen wide-eyed.
Although she achieved so many of her goals,
One concern still weighed heavily on her mind
She could not just leave her homeland behind
Thus, she opted to delight our hearts and souls.
Neither money nor any riches could buy
The lavish performance that she organised
Just for Plitvice, the apple of our eye.
With her kind and generous soul she surprised
Plitvice, which boast a fairy godmother,
Precious and charitable like no other!
Thus, a desire was born to commemorate
Our dear, celebrated artist and singer
Should she ever want to come back and linger
Deep in the shade of the Lakes, where dreams await!
To show her gratitude in waterfalls’ hum
We selected one of singular beauty
To praise our fairy and perform its duty
Of defending her name for ages to come!
And thus, from Mlinovac the waterfall flows
Spilling into Gavanovac with great strength
Just as our appreciation for her grows
And now, having discussed this matter at length
We dedicate this waterfall to her name
May its roaring hum celebrate her bright flame!
Credit: Milka Trnina – 150 Years monograph
Milka Trnina was silent for a moment, taking in the spectacle full of flowers and admiration. Once the roaring enthusiasm had somewhat subsided, she responded to the Vice-President’s greeting:
“Right now, I am filled with immense and indescribable joy. It is a great honour to be showed such appreciation and to see that my darling homeland has fully embraced me. Thanks to you and your Association, this embrace has been immortalised in a gorgeous monument celebrating my name. I wish from the bottom of my heart that my homeland’s heavenly beauty is unveiled to the rest of the world, so that everyone may take joy in witnessing this crown jewel.
You have my deepest gratitude and I shall consider this certificate my personal emblem and the utmost token of appreciation from my fellow countrymen.”
Milka Trnina’s donation enabled the Association to build viewpoints and beautiful bridges over the Lakes. Thus, they hereby thank our remarkable artist again by exclaiming: “Long live our benefactor, Milka Trnina!”
This excerpt gives us an insight into Milka Trnina, a world-famous Croatian opera star who delighted the audiences in Zagreb, Leipzig, Graz, Bremen, Munich, London, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago, Boston, Rome, and many other cities in the late 19th and early 20th century with her exceptional talent, and after whom the waterfall between Milanovac and Gavanovac was named.
