Artistic activity, both by academic and amateur artists, has a special character in Kočevska region. On the one hand, it is strongly linked to the natural features of the area, while on the other hand it seeks expression in its past. Kočevsko area not only awakens the imagination of artists, but also serves as a place where artistic ideas intertwine with the cultural context, creating a unique artistic landscape. In…
Culture Heritage Tourism
A stroll through the village of Občice (Gott. Khrapflern)
“Isn’t even the humblest dwelling magnificent, when it is observed intimately?” I took a walk through the village of Občice occupied with similar thoughts as the French philosopher Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962), who dedicated his work The Poetics of Space to the relationship towards the perception of houses and spaces. This clustered settlement along the so-called “Partisan main line”, seven kilometres from Dolenjske Toplice, despite its smallness, offers visitors a glimpse…
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Culture
Pilichmandle – protector of the dormouse
The forests of Kočevje (Gottschee), with their beauty and mysteries, have often stirred human imagination. People have made up stories about natural phenomena and unusual events that they could not otherwise explain. With the chirping of owls, the cracking of branches in the forest and the change in the dormouse population, a story about Pilichmandle, a dwarfish creature that disturbed the dormouse hunters during their hunt, was born. Pilichmandle as…
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Cuisine Culture
About the Christmas time with the Gottscheers
The magic allure of Christmas is an atmosphere of expectation and warmth. Faith was important in the life of the Gottscheers The Gottscheers have always been deeply devout Catholics. This is also evidenced by the sacral buildings built by the inhabitants of Kočevsko region during the 600 years of their stay there. Almost every village had a church or at least a chapel. They built and maintained the buildings themselves,…
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Culture History
Furniture in the Kočevska region in 19th and 20th century.
My observations from the field In 1985, I moved to Kočevje and almost immediately began my research and restoration work in the area. To date, I have visited and explored several hundred Gottscheer homes and buildings that have been preserved to this day. Since 1988, I have been actively involved as a restoration specialist, consultant, lecturer, a person setting up exhibitions, and as somebody who has managed to acquire numerous…
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Culture Gottscheer Communities
John B. Gladitsch: a story of the American Gottscheer
A Journey to America We left Austria in 1956 for America, when I was 4 years old. My parents lived in Gottschee until 1938 when my father opened a clothing store in Ljubljana, where he sold clothes made by the Kresse company in Gottschee. When the second world war ended my parents were living in Jesenice and their Slovenian friends suggested that it was best for them to flee the…
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Art Culture History
The Assumption of Mary Parish Church in Stara Cerkev
The Assumption of Mary Parish Church in Stara Cerkev by Kočevje. Photo: Anja Moric.…
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Culture
The Gottscheer Folklore Group of the Society of Native Gottschee Settlers
Reminiscing, I realised where my interest and devotion to Gottschee language – Gottscheerisch – and the history of the Gottscheer people come from. It in fact accompanies me from when I was a little girl. My parents raised me in keeping with the old customs and kept alive the memory of the my ancestors’ lives. Those are warm memories and I really wish my children would have the same opportunities.…
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Culture Events
The Days of Gottscheer Culture: a joint project of three municipalities
Do you know who Gottscheers are? Do you know how to say “Good day” in Gottscheer dialect? Do you know how to make pobolitsen? Do you know where Gottscheers used to live? For 6 years, the Days of Gottscheer Culture have been trying to answer all of the above and many other questions. The event came to life in 2015 at the initiative of individuals from the Municipality of Dolenjske…
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