Northern Lights by Drago Jančar set in Maribor

Northern Lights by Drago Jančar set in Maribor, Slovenia

My edition is an English translation from the series, Writings from an Unbound Europe, published by Northwestern University Press. I began reading the novel last night and started to keep this journaling as the questions and dialogue unfolded. [Sunday 25 January 2026].

I formed these two initial questions: Which is the railway station that is in the opening pages of Drago Jančar’s novel, Northern Lights, please? And which street is Alexander Street, where Erdman first walks in 1938? Does it have a new name now?

My Facebook contact, Gorazd, who had first recommended Jančar’s Maribor novel came back with details almost immediately

@Gorazd: ‘This is the main railway station, which is still located in the same place as it was in those days (during World War II it was completely destroyed by Allied bombing). Alexandrov Street is now called Partizanska Street and runs from the main railway station toward the city center.’

This is perfect for literary tourism enthusiasts. I pinpointed the station and the street on Google Maps, as Partizanska cesta 50, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia. Cesta must mean street or road, I think.