By the middle of the 15th century, the Ottoman Empire’s territory stretched as far as modern-day Croatia. In 1469, Ottoman border soldiers controlled areas around Vinica in Bela Krajina. Because of Gottschee’s location near the Austro-Ottoman borderland, Ottoman raiding paths crossed through this region on their way to the heart of the Austrian Empire. The first recorded raids in Gottschee occurred in 1468. Records from 1471 and 1479 tell of devastating attacks on Kočevje, while 50 separate attacks were recorded between 1525 and 1530. Ottoman raiders camped in the vast forests around Gottschee and Snežnik.

Gottschee suffered no less from these raids than any other part of Carniola or Styria. Gottscheer oral tradition and toponyms that point to the presence of tabori are evidence of this shared experience.

Ottoman Raiding in Gottscheer Folk Songs and Tales

Memory in the form of oral tradition passes from generation to generation, even though some content may change over time. As it came down to us today, Gottscheer oral tradition (folk songs, stories, legends, etc.) illustrates the Gottscheer experience of Ottoman raiding.

Folklore moves across a geographical space, crossing local and even linguistic borders. Such is the case with folk songs, which change as different populations adopt them: place names might be substituted, characters may change, and themes may vary. As such, it is difficult to determine the exact origin of Gottscheer folk songs and legends. Nonetheless, the presence of a number of songs about the Ottoman Incursions in the folkloric opus of the Gottscheers shows that this period of history held significant cultural and historical meaning. The body of known Gottscheer oral tradition describing the Incursions is relatively small. However, the folk songs and stories available to us tell of a time of violence (both from raiding and of soldiers going to fight Ottoman forces), the shock and horror of devşirme and kidnappings, and the helplessness Gottscheers felt at the hands of Ottoman raiders. That helplessness is manifest in stories of divine intervention and miracles as well.

The Gottscheers and Ottoman Violence

The folk tale collection of Wilhelm Tschinkel contains one particular tale on the origin of the church in the village of Mozelj (German: Mösel). The tale begins: “When the Turks once again raided Gottschee and robbed and murdered from village to village, they also rode through the lovely little village of Mozelj.”

The village church in Mozej. Photo: Anja Moric.

Two folk songs collected by Adolf Hauffen in the 19th century tell of life near the Austro-Ottoman borderland. The first, appropriately titled “Vom Türkenkriege,”6 tells the story of a young soldier crossing through Gottschee on his way to fight the Ottomans in Ogulin.7 He encounters St. Barbara, who asks him where he travels. The soldier responds: “I must go to the grand army/ to the grand army, to Turkey” and tells St. Barbara that he knows he will neither return nor have a Christian burial among “Turkish guns … [and] dogs.” It is not certain whether the soldier in the song is a Gottscheer or not. However, it is clear that the wars against the Ottomans were also a Gottscheer affair, and that Gottscheers came into contact with soldiers passing through their region or fighting in wars.

The second song tells the story of the Councilor Stephen, who, riding around Koprivnik (German: Nesseltal) comes upon a well. He throws his matrimonial ring into the well: “If the ring floats,/ I shall return” (from war against the Ottomans). The ring sinks, Stephen bids his wife farewell, and rides for Ogulin, where he falls in battle. The “Turks” put his head on a spike, which they send to Koprivnik. The song ends with the Turks announcing, “Rejoice, rejoice, people of Koprivnik,/ the lord Stephen is no more!” As a result of how the Gottscheers experienced raids, the Ottomans became a symbol of violent acts in Gottscheer folk songs.

Kidnappings

Forced recruitment for the Ottoman palace guard and kidnappings by the Ottomans feature prominently in folk songs and legends around the Balkan Peninsula. Gottscheer songs are no exception. These songs focus on reported kidnappings of women and young maidens to the Ottoman Empire.

One such story features prominently in a legend in Tschinkel’s collection and in a song collected by Hauffen. In Tschinkel’s version, a beggar begs a Turkish pasha for alms. The pasha has nothing to offer; he is poor and without a wife. The beggar tells the pasha that he knows of two maidens in “beautiful Gottschee,” who sit in the church in Stara Cerkev (German: Mitterdorf) on August 15th, the Feast of the Assumption. The pasha travels to Gottschee on the holiday, where he declares to frightened pilgrims upon entering the church not to fear, for “[He has] only come for that which [he] lack[s].” The pasha grabs the beautiful Margaret by her hand and rushes back with her to Turkey before the congregation can react.

In Hauffen’s version, the pasha also directly tells the maiden that she will come with him “to the Turkish lands.” The song follows a similar story, albeit in more detail and with an ending where Margaret curses the pasha. The shock of the congregation conveyed in the first story surely reflects the shock and horror of locals when raiders kidnapped Gottscheer maidens in the 15th and 16th centuries. In both stories, the pasha arrives on one of the vital holidays of the Catholic calendar. We may assume that the Gottscheers also saw their religious life endangered by the Ottomans.

Miracles and the Divine

Miracles as well as averted catastrophes appear in Tschinkel’s collection of folk tales. In the story of Sveta Kri by Mozelj, a band of Ottoman raiders thunders into Mozelj, where their horses drop to the ground and freeze when they encounter a rosebush covered in dew made of blood. The frightened raiders retreat. The locals went on to build the chapel of the Holy Blood at that spot; ruins of the chapel can be found not far from the village church today.

In another legend, a group of villagers hides from raiders in a cave near Vrbovec (German: Tiefental). When the raiders arrive, the besieged take a flame in hand and burn their last bull, which was in hiding with them. The howls echoe so loudly that the Ottoman raiders think an entire herd of cows, and thus many men, remain in the village. The raiders lose hope and make their retreat.

Gottscheer and Regional Folklore

Folklore I have recounted here is specifically about the Gottscheers. It is notable that the structure of this folklore is similar in many respects to that of Slovenian folklore about the Ottoman Incursions. That tradition, too, contains songs and legends about Slovenian peasants hiding in caves, divine intervention connected to foritifed churches, and multiple expressions of helplessness. These similarities indicate two conclusions. First, the Ottoman Incursions were a shared experience across the Slovenian Lands, even though these accounts tend to leave out the Gottscheers. Second, taken together, these bodies of folklore demonstrate a common tradition across the Slovenian Lands; the Gottscheers and Slovenians borrowed from one another, influencing their own cultures in turn.

Ottoman incursions and toponyms

Due to the large number of abandoned Gottscheer villages in the Gottschee region, it is difficult to discern how many tabori existed in this space. However, it is possible to determine from local toponyms that the Gottscheers also constructed anti-Ottoman fortifications in their villages. We may assume that the Gottscheers fortified their churches specifically as centers of village wealth and spiritual life. One such fortification existed in Mozelj, which may have been able to shelter several hundred people (Mosbruker). Stari Tabor (German: Alttabor, Gottscheerish: Autrtawr) and Novi Tabor (German: Neutabor) are now-abandoned Gottscheer settlements in today’s municipality of Semič. Stari Tabor, according to the Local Lexicon of the Drava Banate, has its origins in an anti-Ottoman fortification. Novi Tabor shares similar origins, founded during the 16th-century period of raiding.

Remarks:

To call these raids “Turkish” would be historically inaccurate. The armed men carrying out attacks on the Slovenian Lands would most likely have been Christian converts to Islam: they were Ottoman military men. The term “Turk” reflects the name the inhabitants of what we today call Europe gave to Muslims for much of history. The term “Ottoman” would be more appropriate. The name for what would perhaps more accurately be called “Ottoman raids” or “incursions” survives in Slovenian memory under the name “Turkish.” I use the term “Ottoman Incursions” in this article.

Devşirme: The Ottoman child levy or “blood tax”, whereby the Ottomans would kidnap young boys from among their Christian subjects to be raised as soldiers (Janissaries) or bureaucrats in the Ottoman court.

Sources:

– Fister, Peter. Arhitektura Slovenskih protiturških taborov. Ljubljana: Slovenska matica, 1975.

– Moric, Anja (ur.). Pesemsko izročilo Kočevske: Adolf Hauffen: nemški jezikovni otok na Kočevskem. Zgodovina in narečje, življenjske razmere, šege in navade, pripovedke, pravljice in pesmi: znanstvenokritična izdaja. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC SAZU, 2024.

– “History.” Gottscheer Heritage and Genalogy Association. https://gottschee.org/history/.

– Krajevni leksikon dravske banovine. Ljubljana: Uprava Krajvnega leksikona dravske banovine, 1937.

– Mosbruker, Mojmir, “Tabori.” Turški vpadi, 2020. https://turki.splet.arnes.si/tabori/.

– Savnik, Roman, Planina, Francè, and Šifrer, Živko, Krajevni Leksikon Slovenije: repertorij z uradnimi, topografskimi, zemljepisnimi, zgodovinskimi, kulturnimi, gospodarskimi in turističnimi podatki vseh krajev Slovenije. Vol. 2, Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, 1971.

– Tschinkel, Wilhelm. Kočevarska Folklora v šegah, navadah, pravljicach, povedkah, legendah in drugih Folklornih Izročilih: Gottscheer Volkstum in Sitte, Brauch, Märchen, Sagen, Legenden Und Anderen Volkstümlichen Überlieferungen. Ljubljana: ZRC, 2004.

– Voje, Ignacij. Slovenci pod pritiskom Turškega nasilja. Ljubljana: Znanstveni inštitut Filozofske fakultete, 1996.

Članek je nastal v okviru projekta Teža preteklosti: dediščina večkulturnega območja – primer Kočevske, ki ga sofinancira Javna agencija za znanstvenoraziskovalno in inovacijsko dejavnost Republike Slovenije, in s finančno podporo Ministrstva za kulturo Republike Slovenije.

Read in the previous post: Gottscheer recipients of Olympic medals.

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The inter-war fate of the village of Stari Log

The idyllic forest-bound village of Stari Log was the largest village in Kočevska area before the World War II. Until the World War II, it was the seat of the municipality, the seat of the parish; there was a school, a cemetery, a gendarmerie station, taverns and shops. The war did not spare Stari Log that was caught up in the maelstrom of war. After the resettlement of the Gottscheer people in 1941, only two Gottscheer families remained in the village. To prevent the establishment of an Italian outpost, the village was burnt down by the partisans in 1942, and the Italian army deported women, children and the elderly from Stari Log and the surrounding area to concentration camps, while 74 men were shot.

Cemetery in Stari Log

Initially, the cemetery in Stari Log was located next to the St. Margaret’s Parish Church. In 1853, it became too small, therefore they started burying the deceased southeast of the village, on the site of present-day cemetery. Today, graves of Gottscheers – the indigenous inhabitants are preserved in one part of the cemetery, while another, where burials are still carried out, contains the graves of post-war immigrants, and in the third part is located the tomb of 74 partisans and hostages who were shot by the Italian army in August 1942. There remain 11 tombstones from the 19th century, the rest are more recent. Nine bear the signature of the monumental stonemason A. Plesche.

Different memories permeate Stari Log

After the World War II, the cemetery in Stari Log became a transnational memorial site – a monument to the events that marked the tumultuous history of Kočevska area. Near the entrance to the cemetery, the visitor first sees the monument “in memory of all deceased Gottscheers”, erected in 1997 – a square obelisk with a pyramidal structure at the top and a dedication inscription in Slovene, German, English and Göttscheabarisch. It was set up by organisations from Slovenia and abroad, with the participation of local societies and local communities.

In 1960, a communal grave was constructed for the killed hostages. In addition to the tomb, there is an obelisk and white marble tombstones on an area of about 1000 m².

Less than a decade before that, in 1951, the Slovene Writers’ Association had erected a memorial or a symbolic grave to the poet, writer and puppeteer Miran Jarc. He was shot near the village of Pugled near Stari Log, but the location of his grave remains unknown. In 2002, the monument was modernised by the Association for the Conservation of Partisan Graves in Rog (Hornwald).

For many years, the cemetery in Stari Log had no cemetery crucifix. In August 2023, the villagers of Stari Log symbolically restored a cast-iron cross from one of the pre-war Gottscheer graves and placed it as a cemetery crucifix on the left edge of the cemetery, next to the cemetery walls.

Restoration of tombstones in Stari Log cemetery

The cemetery in Stari Log was built in 1997 by the Stara Cerkev Local Community with the help of Gottscheer organisations. The 45 preserved Gottscheer stone tombstones underwent a basic conservation in 2002, but many of them have been damaged by weather, subsidence and deterioration of the materials.

The Putscherle Institute, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage in Kočevsko area, has therefore initiated a more complex restoration of the six most damaged tombstones in 2023, under the direction of Dr Anja Moric. The restoration work is being carried out by the Erjavec Stonemasonry Services from Mahovnik in accordance with the instructions of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Slovenia, and the restoration is financed by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the Municipality of Kočevje. The work on each tombstone includes foundation stabilisation (by concreting), removal of moss and mould, restoration of the inscriptions and, where possible, restoration of the photographs in ceramic frames, construction of missing parts of the monuments, such as crosses, ornaments, etc. In the coming years, the Putscherle Institute plans to gradually restore several additional Gottscheer tombstones.

Sources:
– Resman, Blaž in Seražin, Helena. 2010. Upravna enota Kočevje: občine Kočevje, Kostel in Osilnica. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC.
– Stari Log – spominsko obeležje Tomšičeve brigade. Dostopno na: http://www.zb-kocevje.si/starilog_britof.htm
– Šmajdek, Primož. 2012. Stari Log pri Kočevju – Pokopališče. Dostopno na: http://spomeniki.blogspot.com/2012/12/stari-log-pri-kocevju-pokopalisce.html
– Šuštar, Branko. 2006. Zgodba z nagrobnika prvega učitelja na šoli Smuka/Langenthon na Kočevskem okoli leta 1888. Kronika (Ljubljana), letnik 55, številka 3, str. 405-428.

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The beginnings of mining in Kočevska area

Mining in Kočevska area dates back to the first years of the 19th century. In September 1803, Prince Karl Wilhelm Auersperg was the first to obtain a mine prospecting licence for lignite in the area where Trata is today and opened the “Wilhelm’s Excavation Site”. The prince did not persist with the excavation for long, because the volume of excavated material was modest and the mineral ore did not prove useful in the iron industry, which he fostered as the owner of the ironworks operating in Dvor near Žužemberk. After a long period without mining activity in the area, in 1820 the mining rights were granted to Ivan Röthel, an inhabitant of Kočevje, who opened the “St. John” excavation site. Although the volume of excavated coal was not abundant, he exploited it for industrial purposes, for his brickworks. It was the first plant in Kočevje to introduce lignite into the production process.

Later, coal was mined in Kočevje by some wealthy townspeople, and the most prominent was the Viennese Razinger family, which was involved in glassmaking. Brothers Anton, Nikolaj and Franc immigrated to Kočevje in 1849 and two years later received the prospecting right. The success of the glassworks led to more and more coal being mined to meet production needs. In 1859, seven additional 7 mining site measurements (7×4,5 ha) were granted with 150 miners working there. As intensive mining required increasing investments, the Razinger family became over-indebted and gradually went bankrupt.

Kočevje Coal Mine: prosperity under Trbovlje ownership

At the end of the 19th century, the Trbovlje Coal Mining Company took over ownership of the coal mine and started investing in it. A brickworks, lime kiln, separation plant, heating plant, machine shop, central workshop, sawmill and a steam engine with an electric generator were built. In September 1893, Kočevje officially opened a railway line to Ljubljana for the transport of lignite, and the first train operations had already commenced on this route two months earlier. The “Iron Road” enabled the Kočevje Mine to break into the international market and fostered industrial development of the town of Kočevje. The coal mine became the largest industrial plant in the Kočevska region, and its operation also brought the first electrification to the town. In 1919, a water pipeline was built from the Rinža River to the mine with an electric pump.

Mining continued uninterrupted during the World War I, but after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the Kočevje mine’s operations declined. The railways were nationalised, and the coal supplies were significantly reduced. The Trbovlje Coal Mining Company cut investments and consequently a large number of workers were let go. In 1919, around 1.200 miners were employed, but in 1930 only around 100 still worked there.

Kočevje miners’ revolt

During the World War II, a field committee of the Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation was organised in the Kočevje mine. Kočevje miners went to the partisans in large numbers and also carried out various acts of sabotage, delivering material and food to the partisans through the mine. Because miners left to fight in the war, there was a marked decline in mining activity. The Italians arrested many of the miners from Kočevje, some of whom were deported to a concentration camp in Padua. The mine administration sent food parcels to the internees. During the Italian occupation, the mine was fenced off with wire. In December 1943, the Partisans destroyed most of the mining installations. As there was no electricity for pumping, the pit was flooded with water, making it impossible for the occupying forces to extract the coal.

After the end of World War II, the Trbovlje Coal Mining Company became state-owned. The mine was first renamed to Kočevje Mine and then to Kočevje Lignite Mine. Restoration work began, but destroyed equipment and unskilled miners hindered the re-establishment of production. The operation of the mine was essential for the economy of Kočevje, therefore the miners were exempted from compulsory military service. Due to a shortage of local labour, miner workers from Dry Carniola, Central Sava Valley, and Slovene Littoral and Prekmurje Regions were recruited. In August 1950, the Workers’ Council took over the management of the mine, abandoning production on the open-pit mine and retaining only pit mining. In 1961, a new separation plant was opened, which improved the quality of the coal, and production began to rise sharply in the following years.

Merger with ITAS and mine closure

In 1970, lignite production exceeded 200,000 tonnes. The miners were well paid for their successful work, and their income was among the highest in the municipality. Although the Kočevje Mine rose to the top of the Yugoslav coal mines during this period, coal reserves gradually declined. The administration decided to switch production in order to retrain the miners. The production programme of the fast-growing ITAS company allowed for a relatively simple and quick retraining, and a referendum on the merger of the company and the mine was successfully held in May 1971. After approval by the two Workers’ Councils, the mine was formally incorporated within ITAS in March 1972. Although the mine had been scheduled for closure four years earlier, the energy crisis meant that mining continued until 28 February 1978. This finally marked the last day of the turbulent history of the Kočevje Coal Mine.

Kočevje Coal Mine today

Today, Kočevje’s mining past is still reflected in the infrastructure from that period. The most famous remnant is certainly the increasingly popular Rudnik Lake. The abandoned buildings of the mine separation plant and the former mining colony are further reminders of the history of the mine workers. But there there is also another illustrative reminder, namely the names of local settlements, such as Rudarsko naselje (Mining settlement) and Rudnik (Mine). The areas of Trata are marked with Roman numerals from I onwards, according to the site measurements, which were measured and staked out in 1849. Also worth mentioning is the railway line to the capital, which was after many decades re-established as a regular line in January 2021.

Viri:
Jerbič Perko, Vesna. 2005. Rudnik rjavega premoga Kočevje. Kočevje: Pokrajinski muzej.
Rustja, Karel. 2015. 120 let kočevske železnice. Kočevje: Pokrajinski muzej.
Zupan, Janko. 1963. Rudarji ob 20-letnici kočevskega zbora. Kočevje: Kočevski tisk.

Read how retired miner Franc Volf remembers miners life in Kočevje here.

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The retired Kočevje miner recalls that the coal mine held a great significance to the town of Kočevje and Kočevska region in general during the time he worked there. The mine provided livelihood for many families and the mining profession was held in high esteem.

“The mine was undoubtedly of crucial importance for the entire Kočevska region, not just for the town of Kočevje. To be perfectly honest, the then Kočevje practically “grew” from the mine. In industrial and economic terms, everything revolved around the mine. At that time, there was also a large Tekstilana factory that mainly provided employment for our wives, and LIK, another important company. But there is no doubt that the mine was in all respects the main driver of development in the town and its wider surroundings.”

The love of mining outweighed the difficult work

The following recollections of the retired miner from Kočevje best illustrate very strenuous and dangerous work in the mine:

“I got up at 5am because we started work at 6am. I was lucky to live near the mine. Before entering the mine, you had to change into mining work clothes. We miners were often wet because there was lots of water in the pits. We had to dry our clothes by the next day. There was a load of work, but it was also well paid. Because there were so few of us in the pits, we could not be “slacking”. We had to work a lot and hard. It was also dangerous. It is well known that a mine that is closing is the most dangerous for miners. There were times when the pressure around us was so intense that the mineral deposit collapsed before our eyes.”

Although the daily work in the coal mine was hard, he loved it. “We also worked on Saturdays and Sundays, there were practically no days off. We always had to be 100% present with our body and mind. Fortunately, I was young and was fit enough to withstand all the strains. It was also quite helpful that I led a healthy life, and didn’t drink alcohol or smoke, which was unlike many of my mining colleagues. In a way, working in the mine was like being married – we mine workers were a bit smitten with the mine. After the mine closed, I went to work at ITAS with a very heavy heart. When the coal mine ceased operations, it must have been us, the miners, who suffered the worst. We really loved this job, so it was really difficult to leave the mine behind.”

Not only colleagues, but also friends

As Franc Volf points out, the Kočevje miners were not only colleagues, but also true friends. Together, they spent many hours working in the mine and many afternoons socialising during leisure activities.

“We liked to spend time together. Mine workers are a special kind of people, so we stuck together a lot. In those days, there were still trade union trips or excursions. Mine workers from all over Slovenia met often. For example, people from Kočevje went to Trbovlje, Zagorje or Hrastnik, and they visited us. We visited each other, got to know each other and had a good time. We were friends. I don’t know if workers in any other line of business shared such a strong bond. We had quite a few friends in Trbovlje in particular, as Trbovlje was considered a kind of Slovenian mining centre at that time.”

There were many amusing anecdotes, and heavy tragedies as well

Despite the difficult working conditions and physically demanding working hours, the friendly relationships between the miners brought about many interesting stories. Franc Volf remembers particularly well an anecdote where older miners liked to “play a trick” on their younger colleagues.

“When a young miner came to work in the mine, the older miners would send him to the ventilating assembly, which was always running, saying that the electric connection was there. Not knowing this, the newcomers headed there, and when they arrived, they immediately rushed back to where they came from, because there was no oxygen up there. We also talked about the notorious Perkmandeljc, and we scared the young miners that he was watching us from above. These jokes could be cruel, and some colleagues were completely petrified. In the ten years I worked in the mine, there was plenty of such events.”

Unfortunately, his time in the Kočevje mine was also marked by two tragedies, which he still remembers vividly to this day.

“We have had two fatal accidents when the shaft caved in on two of our miners. Vinko Kotar and Jože Lipovec lost their lives in work accidents. Having also worked as a mine rescue worker, I have been personally involved in both tragedies. Both of them remained stuck in the shaft for about 14 to 20 days because we simply were not able to get to them before that. They were caught where the Mine Lake is today. At that time, there were two other lakes, and we faced a high risk of ingress of silt – that is, a mixture of water, mud and clay. So we had to break through to them from a completely opposite side. We miners always greeted each other with “good luck”, and we meant it literally, because we never knew what awaited us in the mine. We were always with one foot in the ‘afterworld’.”

Only a handful of miners are still alive today

Once a year, Kočevje miners meet on their special day, the Miner’s Day. Miners’ Day, which is commemorated on 3 July, is celebrated every year at the Kočevje Regional Museum, where a social event is organised to reminisce about miners’ lives. With the exception of this organised gathering of former mining comrades, the few who are still alive, according to Franc Volf, rarely see each other due to old age and illness.

“Unfortunately, there are very, very few of us left. I can count my Kočevje mining colleagues who are still alive today on the fingers of one hand. And those who are still with us are already very old and in poor health. I was one of the youngest miners at the time, but most of my peers have already passed away. In fact, all those miners who lived less healthy lives, who smoked, drank alcohol, etc., have passed away long time ago. Fortunately, what has kept me going, apart from a healthy lifestyle, is that I often hike in the woods where I hunt and pick mushrooms.”

Source: interview with retired Kočevje miner Franco Volf, conducted on 14 November 2023. 11. 2023.

In the previous post, read:Student project for the Gottscheer ethnological exhibition in Občice.

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»Hey, how it crackled yesterday in Lower Carniola (Dolenjska), down towards Kočevska land! And rightly so. For such a national holiday promoting economic progress will not be celebrated soon by the local generation there, present or future, as yesterday was the day when the Iron Road was solemnly inaugurated /…/ It was a joyful day for the whole land of Carniola, but it was especially joyful for those places bestowed upon by the swift steam engine – provided by God and the Slovenian fortune! — a better future, just as it will bring it a year from now to another even wider region of our homeland. «

It was with this excitement that the newspaper Slovenski narod on 28 September 1893 chronicled the the solemn occasion of the inauguration of the Ljubljana-Kočevje line in an article entitled “Inauguration of the Lower Carniolan Railways”.

It was with this excitement that the newspaper Slovenski narod on 28 September 1893 chronicled the the solemn occasion of the inauguration of the Ljubljana-Kočevje line in an article entitled “Inauguration of the Lower Carniolan Railways”. This year, in September 2023, we will mark 130 years since the start of railway transport. A few decades earlier, Carl Ritter von Ghega, an engineer who, among other things, led the planning of the southern railway from Vienna via Ljubljana to Trieste (its construction began in 1839), and who is perhaps better known in Slovenia for the Borovnica viaduct, which was destroyed during the Second World War, had written: “Railways make distances disappear, railways promote material interests, they strengthen and extend culture.”

The “swift steam engine” came and went…

The Kočevje railway has certainly brought about changes. On the one hand, it has fostered economic development in industries such as coal mining, timber and trade, and on the other, it has brought a variety of educated people, new knowledge and ideas to Kočevska region. It has opened a window on the world to people, sped up the flow of information and reduced distances between places. But not everyone has welcomed the iron snake with joy. It caused a drop in profits, especially for roadside, coaching inns and horse and cart drivers.

In times of economic crises, trains also carried passengers to European port cities, from where they departed, especially for America, looking for a better life. 1941, a turning year in the history of Kočevska region, was also connected with the train. The Gottscheers who opted for resettlement were racially examined on the train at the Kočevje train station. In the winter of 1941/42, 135 train compositions took them to the German Reich or to the resettlement area in the Posavje and Obsotelje (Rann) region.

From idea to construction of the Kočevje railway

After the completion of the Southern Railway in 1857, ideas for railway connections to Lower Carniola began to emerge. in 1869, the first plans were drawn up for the construction of the new Ljubljana–Novo mesto line, which also included a connection to Kočevje. But it took almost 30 years to get there. In 1886, the Trbovlje Coal Mining Company bought the lignite mine in Kočevje and became the leading initiator of the construction of the railway line between Ljubljana and Kočevje. Fran Šuklje, a member of the National Assembly, and Baron Josef Schwegel expressed support of this, which brought the matter from a standstill, and on 1 June 1892 the first construction works commenced.

The first train started its journey on the 76.1 km long line and arrived in Kočevje on 27 July 1893, which was followed by a commission track inspection, and the official inauguration two months later.

Decommissioning and renovation of the Kočevje railway

Passenger trains on the Ljubljana-Kočevje route were discontinued after 1971 due to a decline in passenger numbers, mainly at the expense of the (then) more time-efficient car traffic on the Ljubljana–Kočevje Dolenjska cesta Road. The line’s renovation started in 2008 and was completed in 2020. There are 11 trains from Ljubljana to Kočevje during the week, 3 (Sunday) and 4 (Saturday) at weekends, and 13 trains running in the opposite direction, and 4 at weekends.

Underpass to Trata or the so-called “little tunnel”

Railway architecture also includes overpasses and underpasses. Kočevje residents are familiar with the arched railway underpass to Trata, known as the Tunnel. The stone beauty dating back to the construction of the Kočevje line allowed the townspeople to safely cross the railway tracks and enter the meadows and fields on the other side. When the line was overhauled in 2016, experts and the interested public, following lengthy debates, succeeded in preserving the “tunnel”.

Left to deteriorate: Original railway engine-shed and turntable

At the moment, however, the remaining, no less important, railway facilities in Kočevje are in not in a good condition. The original railway engine-shed and the turntable, built in 1893, have been preserved at the Kočevje railway station. The engine-shed, which accommodates space for two locomotive engines, is of coffered construction and the façade is boarded. In front of the engine-shed is a turntable with a diameter of 14.65 m and a load capacity of 80 tonnes. Despite the fact that the Kočevje engine-shed and turntable represent technical heritage that is difficult to find in Slovenia today and its preservation would be of utmost importance, the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Slovenia downgraded the importance level of its preservation in 2022 from urgent to “recommended”.

In the absence of recognition of the importance of this type of heritage by the owner – Slovenian Railways and the local community in Kočevje, the building will sooner or later fall into disrepair, despite the fact that only basic financial resources would be needed for its basic maintenance. The Kočevska region and the Republic of Slovenia will lose another monument of technical and railway heritage, and the Municipality of Kočevje will lose an opportunity for an interesting tourist product. The museum train, one of those that was so ceremoniously welcomed by the inhabitants of the settlements along the Ljubljana–Kočevje line in 1893, could steam through the Kočevska region in its “old manner”.

Sources:
– The National Register of Cultural Heritage: https://geohub.gov.si/portal/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=d6641ae60c0c47e9b027319f4f0f73
– Brate, Tadej in Ivan Kordiš. 1993. 100 let kočevske železnice: 1893–1993. Kočevje: Muzej.
– Fajfar, Simona. 2016. Kamnita dragotina je v nemilosti pri kočevski občini. Delo: https://old.delo.si/kultura/razno/kamnita-dragotina-je-v-nemilosti-pri-kocevski-obcini.html
– Kočevska proga. 2020. Ljubljana: Direkcija RS za infrastrukturo.
– Rustja, Karel. 2015. 120 let kočevske železnice. Kočevje: Pokrajinski muzej.

Kje vse danes živijo kočevarske skupnosti? Prispevek o Kočevarjih v Clevelandu najdete tukaj, o Kočevarjih v New Yorku pa tukaj.

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Emigration from Kočevska region

Although the history of the Kočevska region was tragically marked mainly by the emigration of Gottscheers during the World War II in 1941/42, emigration, as elsewhere in Carniola, was particularly high during the global economic crises. From the mid-19 th century until the 1930s, Gottscheers went abroad seeking one’s fortune. The modest natural conditions (karst terrain, lack of water and arable land, etc.) and the unfavourable economic situation in Kočevska region were the main reasons for the mass emigration to the USA, where it is believed that more Gottscheers lived before the World War II than in Kočevska region. Until the World War II, Gottscheers were leaving for European countries as far away as the Czech Republic, mainly as hawkers. In the major cities of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, some even opened their own shops, while others left in search of an education.

Gottscheers in Cleveland

Gottscheer Kalender from 1926 reports that the first four Gottscheers that came to the USA left in 1853. A little less than 30 years later, around 1880, there were reportedly already a large number of Gottscheers in Cleveland, who were employed in the local industrial companies. In Cleveland, where there was little or no social support for workers from the state, the First Gottscheer Society was founded by Gottscheer industrial workers as early as 1889 – Erster Österreichischer Unterstützungs Verein, literally translated as the First Austrian Mutual Aid Society. After the World War II, in March 1946, the Society, together with another Gottscheer Society, the Deutsche Österreichischer Unterstützungs Verein, also based in Cleveland, founded the Gottscheer Relief Committee. The new organisation was set up to help the Gottscheers in Europe who were left without a homeland after the war. In 1955, the two societies merged to form the Erster Österreichischer Unterstützungs Verein, abbreviated EOUV, which is still active today.

In 1983, with the voluntary work of its members and donations, the society built a new cultural centre or club with a football pitch, a pavilion and a caretaker’s house. At the Gottscheer Park, visitors can stroll through a grove of trees, through which the Gottscheer Weg walking path leads. The club has a brass band, a dance group and a choir.

The Gottscheer women are particularly proud of the society’s Ladies Auxiliary women’s section, which today caters for the cuisine and culinary delights at various events. At the beginning of the 20 th century, women were also politically active, as women in Cleveland, like men, organised to fight for more workers’ rights.

The club’s activities used to include other activities, such as a theatre group and a winter sports group. Founded in 1953, the football club was still active in the 1980s under the name Blau-Weiss Kickers, or the white and blue Kočevje colours.

Sources:
– Sieder, Joseph at al. 1989. 1889-1989 E.O.U.V.
– Ferenc, Mitja. 2005. Kočevska – pusta in prazna. Ljubljana: Modrijan.

In the next article, you can learn where else you can find Gottscheer communities. About the activities of Gottscheer soccer players here.

The post Where do Gottscheers Live around the World? – Part I: Gottscheers in Cleveland appeared first on Gottscheer blog.

Soccer was played recreationally in Kočevska region as early as the end of the 19 th century. The pioneers in the area were German Turners, followed by Kočevje grammar school students. Nevertheless, the beginning of organised soccer in Kočevska region is considered to be the period after the end of the World War I. In 1920, the Kulturno-prosvetno društvo Svoboda Kočevje (Svoboda Kočevje Cultural and Enlightenment Society), which was mainly made up of mine and other workers from Kočevje, became active. Under the umbrella of this society, sportspersons from three sports disciplines – athletes, track and field athletes and soccer players – participated. Today’s Kočevje Soccer Club therefore considers the year of its foundation (despite many subsequent name changes) to be the name mentioned above.

Strong German Influence

The design of the Svoboda coat of arms testifies to the fact that the first soccer club in Kočevje had a strong German influence. It was a circle divided into quarters with four mirrored letters F. These symbolised the German adjectives frisch, fromm, fröhlich and frei (fresh, pious, joyful and free). The first “real” organised soccer match took place in Kočevje on 6 August 1922, when the local Svoboda team hosted the team of the same name (Svoboda) from Most pri Ljubljani.

During this period, soccer was also actively played in the neighbouring villages of Kočevje. The most famous and successful club at that time was the German Sportklub Rapid Mitterdorf from Stara Cerkev. The village had a full soccer team and defeated Svoboda 8:1 in their first match against each other. Alfred Erker, a healthcare worker who had studied in Graz, brought football knowledge to Stara Cerkev, while local merchant Greisch bought the team black and white striped jerseys, modelled on those of the Austrian football giant Rapid from Vienna.

Slovenian-German Derby in Kočevje

In 1926, the Kočevje soccer club was renamed from Svoboda to Sportski klub Jadran. It hosted its matches on the pitch where Gaj Stadium stands today. Kočevje grammar school students played for it mainly, but was also joined by soccer players from Stara Cerkev, who handed it the aforementioned black and white jerseys. Practically at the same time, another Kočevje club of the time, Sportklub Herold, was formed, mainly by German trade apprentices. It was chaired by the glassmaker Walter Engele and played its home matches on the same pitch as the Jadran club. The third football club in Kočevje in the post-war period was the Sportski klub Dijaški dom, which, as its name suggests, was made up of students from the local boarding school.

In 1935, a new soccer club of Gottscheers, Sportklub Rapid Gottschee, was founded in Kočevje. It was part of the so-called Kulturbund (Swabian-German Cultural Association). This was the beginning of the national conflicts and tensions between Slovenes and Germans in Kočevska region, which were also reflected in soccer. In June of the same year, the Slovenian soccer players from Kočevje united for the first time in one single, unified club, which was called Sportski klub Kočevje.

It was the first independent soccer association in Kočevje, which was not just a subsection of a sports association offering with a wide range of disciplines. The most interesting, intense and well attended were the matches between the two city rivals , which were watched live by up to 2,000 spectators. Despite the fact that the pre-war atmosphere in Kočevje was highly- charged, according to testimonies from that time, no major riot, neither by fan groups nor political, took place at any of the matches.

During the World War II, practically all sporting activities in Kočevje ceased. Most of the football players of SK Kočevje joined the national liberation struggle partisan resistsance (NOB), many of them were also internees in German concentration camps. After the war, the majority of the German population was expelled from Kočevska region, which meant the end of German football in the area. This, of course, also marked the end of the matches between the Slovenian and German teams from Kočevje.

Sources:

• Gorše, Jože. 2020. Kočevski nogomet: Že stoletje. Kočevje: Pokrajinski muzej.
• Kordiš, Ivan, Jerbič Perko, Vesna in Pavlin, Tomaž. 2019. Telovadba in šport na Kočevskem. Kočevje: Pokrajinski muzej.
• FC Kočevje website, available at http://www.nkkocevje.si/.

Have you ever heard of the Pollichmandle – the guardian of dormiece? You can find more information about this typical Gottscheer narrative hero here.

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As I follow the road south of the Hrib – Loški Potok settlement, surrounded by peaceful green surroundings, enlivened in this autumn season by hues of red, warm brown and orange. I have left the hustle and bustle of the city far behind me, and now I am heading for places that are unfortunately scarcely populated. The path leads me through forests, and when I set my eyes on the familiar signposts pointing towards the road that winds across the forest-covered plateaus to Stari and Novi Kot, the former being the birthplace of my dearly departed grandfather, I cannot help but smile. I’m getting close.

After Lazec, I descend to Podpreska, and before me a view of the valley below the Dinaric plateaus of the Travljanska gora – the Dragarska Valley opens up, with the settlements of Podpreska, Draga, Srednja vas pri Dragi and Trava, and a little further towards the Croatian border there lie Podplanina, Pungert and Črni Potok pri Dragi encircled by hills. This area is closely intertwined with my family’s history and is familiar to me mainly from the intriguing stories told by my grandparents. Even though I haven’t spent much time in this part of Slovenia, every time I visit, I feel a strange, nostalgic sense of familiarity that encourages me to explore these remote, yet very beautiful places.

Monument in Novi Kot (Neuwinkel)

Recently, during a visit to Novi Kot, I came across a memorial dedicated to the inhabitants of Stari and Novi Kot who lost their lives during World War II – combatants, victims of internment and hostages. The names of my grandfather’s mother and sister, whom I knew had died in internment, are also commemorated on the memorial. I began to wonder about the situation which befell children when they returned home, for example my grandfather and his brothers, at the time boys aged between 10 and 14, whose father had been held up in America during the war, where many of the inhabitants of these places had emigrated in search of a better life. In my search for answers, I came across interesting facts that were previously unknown to me, and at the same time I had the opportunity to dedicate this article to this topic.

Dragarska valley and its inhabitants

In the area encompassing the Dragarska valley and the surrounding villages, such as Stari and Novi Kot that are surrounded by vast forests, were marked by hardships and poverty, contraband in the 17th century, and the emigration of the Kočevje Germans during World War II, when during 1939 and 1945 some of the bloodiest pages of human history have been written, and after which the population has dropped significantly. Abandoned farmland, razed locales, immense material and economic damage, changes in political systems, broken relationships and, above all, millions of prematurely extinguished lives are some of the darkest consequences of the war and post-war period.

The Dragarska Valley area has been linguistically mixed in the past, to some extent due to its close proximity to Croatia. At the same time, German-speaking peasants, also known as Gottscheers, were brought here to accelerate economic development. They were settled in the Middle Ages by the noble Ortenburg family from Carinthia. But people also immigrated from elsewhere; for example, a short research paper on the origin of my surname states that the Troha’s originated from Bohemia, from where my ancestors first settled in Babno Polje in the 15th century, and Johann or Janez Troha married to Stari Kot in the mid-19th century.

In fact, during the years before World War II, life in the area was modest but peaceful. Marta Steiner told me that at the beginning of the 20th century, after many men had left for America, the area was beset by “great squalor”. Nevertheless, the remaining inhabitants “stuck together”, and divisions – for example between Slovenes and Germans – were not strict, even non-existent: “Back then all of us were one, and we lived together in unity.”

The whole valley that today seems devoid of life, used to be very lively. For example, in Trava, they held three fairs every year, they had a tavern and craftsmen. Therefore it was not difficult to get by, even if modestly. The village of Draga, with its two taverns, a store and a post office, was the social centre of the valley. People helped each other and socialised. The children from the surrounding area were taught by the legendary teacher Nada Vreček, known for her dedicated work, who started teaching at the Trava school in 1929 and continued to do so for 55 years, having taught three generations.

World War Two

The war reached the Dragarska valley and the surrounding areas in 1941, when, after months of intensely monitoring the news, the first Italian boots entered Novi and Stari Kot from the direction of the Croatian village Čabar. In his notes, Alojz Miklič pointed out that the “Romans” promised them everything possible, complete freedom and equality and the use of their own language, but “they soon began with italianisation of various signs in offices and roadsigns. The name of the primary school was changed to “Scuola populare” and Italian language became a compulsory school subject. An Italian teacher took over the teaching duties, and the local teacher, Nada Vreček, fled for a while across the border to Croatia, to Čabar.

The Italian occupation of the area was one of the reasons for the eviction of the Kočevje Germans from the Dragarska valley in 1942. “However, when the Gottscheers moved, it was very tragic,” Marta Steiner recalls, describing how they were hastily loaded onto trucks, but there was not enough space for their belongings, which were simply thrown off the trucks. “All this was done so brutally,” she bitterly sums up the sudden departure of many neighbours, who were then resettled by German troops in the then-empty houses in Posavje Region, whose inhabitants had previously been deported to labour camps.

However, this was only the beginning of the horrors in the Dragarska Valley and its surroundings. In 1942, the partisans burnt down the church and school at Trava that were located on higher grounds to prevent the Italians from gaining a good view of the valley. In the same year, the Italians burnt the villages of Stari and Novi Kot to the ground and took the inhabitants to internment – first on the island of Rab and later to Gonars – this was done to prevent them from offering shelter and hiding places to the partisans. The inhabitants of the village Trava were temporarily relocated to Draga, but after three months they returned to Trava together with the other inhabitants of the valley that the occupying forces had fenced off and set up an Italian military outpost. At that time, most of the houses in the village were derelict.

Memories of the war in the Dragarska Valley

Even though almost 80 years have passed since the Italian occupation, these events are still etched in the memories of the inhabitants of the village Trava, Marta Steiner and Rudolf Malnar, who were children at the time. Marta Steiner recalls that there were no men in the village: “If someone was hiding, say at home, they were quickly discovered. They were doing all sorts of inspections around the houses and these Italians who had outposts here, it was sheer horror.” Fear and hunger reigned in the village, and hungry children even went to ask the Italians, who had a kitchen in one of the emptied houses, for leftovers from dinner: “We children, who had nothing to eat, used to stand there with our canteens and wait to see if there were any leftovers from dinner that could be put inside them.”

The younger children, especially the boys, remained cheerful despite the difficult conditions. Rudolf Malnar, for example, tells us that he secretly took a pistol from an officer’s backpocket and then – also secretly – returned it to its place. He also remembers how the boys used to make wooden guns to play with so they could play partisans and Italians, and in their childish curiosity and ignorance they even played with dangerous weapons, a scene that is unimaginable today. “Those Italian bombs, they were called Red Devils, we dismantled them, and inside was one of those lead balls, and that’s what we were after,” he recalls, and tells how a bomb blew up in the hands of his friend.

Hope raised by teacher Nada Vreček

Although the locals who stayed in the Dragarska Valley were caught in the middle of a war zone, they could not imagine what was happening to their fellow villagers, neighbours or loved ones, who were being taken away by the Italian occupying forces for internment. The sad stories of the children who lived through these horrors are collected in two works, Testimonies of the Rab Internees (1942–1943) and The Young People of Kočevje Standing up against the Occupying Forces. Sad, frightened, starving and in several cases orphaned, the children returned to their homes in 1943, after the surrender of Italy. The return was difficult, the orphans were taken in by their surviving relatives, and many of the houses at Trava were home to several families, even up to four.

The teacher Nada Vrečekwas responsible for a brighter future of the children – both those who returned from the internment and those who survived the war in their home villages. At one time, she was teaching around eighty children. “After the war, we all went in the outside world, because after the war we went to schools, and Nada arranged schools for all of us,” says Marta Steiner, who, together with my grandparents, attended the Ribnica Grammar School. These young people growing up in the post-war period were the most educated, and jobs were waiting for them as soon as they finished secondary school. The fact that Nada Vreček has received several awards for her work and that the generations she taught are still grateful to her today speaks for itself. In the Firefighters’ Home at Trava, the locals have dedicated a memorial corner to her, which intricately connects both the beautiful and the bitter memories of those difficult times.

Much more could be written about the stories I heard during my research, but I think I have summarised some of the most important information in this short note. Further work is of course not out of the question, as I consider it extremely important to preserve the memory of this dark fragment of our heritage. We must be aware that the last generation that can still tell the story of the war in first person has entered deep into the autumn of their lives, and (too) many of these stories will simply fade away into oblivion. It is up to us, in the precious time we have left, to try to hear and preserve as many of them as possible.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the three interlocutors who shared their memories with me without hesitation: to Mrs Marta Steiner and Mr Rudolf Malnar from Trava, who were happy to invite me to their home, and to my grandmother Anita Troha, who moved to Draga after the end of the war and was the first to tell me about these places.

Sources:
– Slavko Ožbolt v sodelovanju z Marto Steiner in Ireno Klepac, ‘Vas Trava.’ Zloženka, izdana s pomočjo donatorja Gojka Kende. Občina Loški Potok, Trava 2008.
– Suzana Kordiš, Where are my roots: Troha. Unpublished document on the origin of the surname, Stari Kot 2007.
– Marta Steiner, born in 1932 in Trava (Obergrass), returned to Trava after decades of work and life abroad and elsewhere in Slovenia. She has been living in Trava for over 30 years. Personal Communication, Trava. 10. 2021.
– Interviews with: Marta Steiner, Personal Communication, Trava, 2021; Anica Troha, born in 1935 in Zagorje, moved to her aunt in Draga at the age of 10 in 1945. Personal Communication, Trava, 2021; Rudolf Malnar, born in 1936 in Trava. Personal Communication, Trava, 2021.
– Lucija Miklič, ur., Kronika vasi Stari in Novi Kot. Samozaložba, Stari Kot 2002, str. 28-29.
– Herman Janež, ur., Pričevanja rabskih internirancev (1942–1943). ČZP Kmečki glas, Ljubljana 1985.
– Bogomil Gerlanc, ur., Mladi rod Kočevske proti okupatorju. Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana 1953.

In our previous post, you can read more about Christmas time in Kočevska (Gottschee) area.

The post A childhood stolen: memories of the (post)war period in the Dragarska valley (Suchenertal) and the surrounding villages appeared first on Gottscheer blog.

The idyllic village of Planina is located in the Municipality of Semič at the southern foot of Mirna gora on a karst plateau at an altitude of 773 m. This clustered village, like many other settlements in Slovenia, is named after a high, mountain position and mountain pastures. The former inhabitants, the Gottscheers, called it Stockendorf and it denotes a derelict land, a place, from which burnt tree trunks have been cleared (bei den Stocken Dorf). Its origins date back to the time before German colonisation and a Slovenian name is documented in historical sources from the 13th century.

At the end of the 16th century, the village belonged to the Lower Kočevje County and was inhabited by up to 40 inhabitants. Among the nine landowners, one was Slovenian and the rest were German-speaking. In 1880, there were already more than 30 houses forming a village of the central type that were situated around the centre encircling a triangular crossroads with a mighty chestnut tree and a chapel.

The population was engaged in agriculture

The population was mainly engaged in grazing livestock. Besides cattle and ovine livestock, pig farming was particularly developed. The scanty soil did not allow for considerable expansion of agriculture, and vegetable was grown in small gardens next to the houses. However, any extra cabbage was sold together with the livestock at the fairs in Črnomelj.

Remnants of the once rich orchards can still be observed today. People mainly grew pears, apples, plums, cherries and walnuts. Dried fruit was an important part of the diet during the colder months, and particularly during the festive season it was mixed into bread. In addition to dried meat, dried fruit slices were an indispensable accompaniment on longer journeys. In addition, vineyards were cultivated in Gorenjci and Rodine.

The mixed forest met the needs of Planina’s inhabitants for building, heating, and household goods, while the skilled processing of wood, especially wooden ware, brought additional income. Later, firewood, logs and sleepers were sold through the Semič and Črnomelj railway stations.

Water supply

Besides a well and two ponds, a village water supply system operated at Planina during the two world wars. According to Anton Prelesnik in his book Water Sources in the Kočevska Region (Vodni viri na Kočevskem), the village water reservoir at Planina was constructed in 1849 and the old water supply system in 1928. In addition to the village water reservoir that was managed by the entire village community, and which were usually constructed with due diligence because of their higher discharge they were important for the water supply, there is another water reservoir situated not far from the village. It is a water spring, walled with stone masonry or concrete and could easily be drawn. This type of natural water source is prevalent in Kočevska area.

Emigration

Emigration marked the area in particular after 1890, and after World War I the proportion of the Slovenian speaking population started to gradually increase. The school was opened in 1836, initially in a private house, but 20 years later a dedicated building was constructed, and in 1919 Slovene was introduced as a special subject in the school. In the 1930s, the village with thirty occupied houses were still home to about 120 inhabitants, of whom about 70% were Germans, 7% Slovenians, and slightly less than a quarter declared themselves as having mixed origin.

The Church of St Elijah

Since 1730, the Church of St. Elijah has stood on the outskirts of the village. Previously, a chapel stood on its site, but we do not know the exact year of its construction. Initially it was given the status of a branch in the parish of Črmošnjice, but in 1875 it was consecrated to an independent parish. The church was officially registered as a parish church until 1987, when it was annexed to the parish of Semič, after the abolition of several abandoned parishes in Kočevska area. During the years 1854 and 1857, it underwent major reconstruction. It was burnt and looted during World War II, and was finally rebuilt in 1965, 1984 and finally in 2002.

An auxiliary post office, an inn, a shop and a parish have also operated here. The Planina cadastral municipality comprised the settlements of Planina, Mirna Gora, Ponikve, Sredgora, Škrilj, Pogorelec and Starološki Grič, and in the 1930s it was included in the Municipality of Črnomelj.

World War Two

Between 27 November and 1 December 1941, 115 people from twenty-two houses resettled from Planina via the Semič railway station. During the summer of 1942, the village was burnt down twice by the Italian army. In September 1942, soldiers of the Isonzo Division and partisans of the Cankar and Tomšič Brigades engaged in a battle at Planina.

During the war, the poorer Bela krajina inhabitants and the partisans found shelter in the village, where they established a hospital, a carpentry and joinery workshop, and the National Farm. They also set up various societies, a partisan invalid choir and an acting group.

Planina (Stockendorf) after the Second World War

After the war, the village was settled by agricultural and forestry workers who kept cattle in the newly built stables of the Črnomelj Agricultural Cooperative and performed forestry works under the auspices of the Novo mesto Forest Management. At the end of the 1950s, electricity was brought to Planina with the expenses covered by the cooperative.

Planina has recently become a popular retreat for hikers and day-trippers, and the number of well-equipped holiday cottages and proper permanent residents is also on the rise. A half-hour walk along a beautifully kept trail leads to the mountain hut at Mirna gora, where we can enjoy the view, quench our thirst or refresh ourselves with homemade delicacies that are carefully prepared.

Sources:
Mitja Ferenc and Gojko Zupan. 2006. Cerkve na Kočevskem nekoč in danes. 2. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC SAZU.
Mitja Ferenc and Gojko Zupan. 2013. Po sledeh Kočevarjev v Črmošnjiško-Poljanski dolini. Dolenjske Toplice: Društvo Kočevarjev staroselcev.
Anton Prelesnik. 2007. Vodni viri na Kočevskem = Wasserquellen im Gottscheerland. Dolenjske Toplice: Društvo Kočevarjev staroselcev; Ljubljana: distribucija ZRC SAZU.
Rozalija Mohar. 2008. Tu so živeli… Semič: Občina.
Božidar Flajšman, field notes.

Read more about furniture styles in Kočevska area in the 19th and 20th centuries in our previous post. in 19th and 20th century..

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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 items for the collections of the Kočevje Regional Museum, the Ribnica Museum, the Dolenjska Museum Novo mesto, the Bela krajina Museum Metlika, the Putscherle Institute, and for various private collections.

have noticed that very few items from the 17th 17th or 18th century have been preserved in the wider Kočevska region. They are only found as part of church furnishings. Items from the Biedermeier period (1800–1850) are also extremely rare. While elements of Gothic, Baroque, Neoclassicism, Historicism and Art Nouveau can be observed in the architecture of the buildings of the Gottscheer settlements, Historicism – the so-called Old German or Altdeutsch style, which prevailed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries – stands out in terms of the abundance of preserved interior furnishings.

Furniture from the time of historicism in the Kočevje region

Historicism is characterised by having mostly robust features, with furniture in darker shades and crafted of solid oak, walnut, cherry or other usually dark stained hardwoods. The use of thin, industrial veneers, marble and leather is also typical. The furniture is evidently inspired by older styles (Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, Biedermeier styles) that are often combined in the same product.

Identical articles can often be found in different locations, which leads us to the conclusion that these are serial products of larger workshops that have tailored their products to the taste of their customers. The fact that the items were mostly imported from all over central Europe is evidenced by the makers’ marks and, above all, by transport codes. Most of the products that have been preserved in Kočevska area originate from Austrian, Czech and German workshops. It is on rare occasions that we come across an item from this period that can be attributed to local craftsmen.

Furnishings of a town house at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries

Dining room or lounge: it was usually a common room. It accommodated a larger dining table and chairs. The central space along the wall was occupied by a massive, multi-purpose display cabinet. They often also accommodated small decorative tables, a mirror, a coat rack and other ancillary items.

Bedroom: bedside tables stood next to the sturdy, usually high-headed beds. In this room there were also wardrobes and a chest of drawers, while less frequently a trunk, a cheval-glass, a kneeler and a dressing table with a washbasin.

Another important piece of furniture that needs to be mentioned is the writing or bureau desk that was usually located in the study or the aforementioned rooms.

The items preserved in Kočevska area show the prevailing taste of the inhabitants of this area, and in particular that the well-off inhabitants were very fashionable and furnished their homes with the furnishings that were very stylish at that time. Keeping up with the trends is also strongly expressed in sacral buildings, as most of the Baroque and older churches were adorned with new altars and vestry furnishings at the end of the 18th and in the 19th centuries.

The photos show a representative central display cabinet in the historic style during and after the restoration process. It is a typical piece of furniture from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, owned by wealthier townsfolk and churches. Composition: hardwood, dark stained and lacquered, marble central panel, brass fittings. Source: Kočevje, private property.

In our previous post, John B. Gladitsch: a story of the American Gottscheer, you can read more about the lives of Gottscheer expatriates in New York City.

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