Special Feature: The Thirsty Man

The Wise Men are accompanied by a Gottscheer man who, thirsty, drinks from a small barrel known as a putscherle. This small but remarkable detail reveals to visitors a glimpse of everyday life in the Kočevje region centuries ago. Putscherles were produced by the Gottscheers and sold in neighbouring regions and countries. Their importance is further attested by the fact that the renowned polymath Johann Weikhard Valvasor depicted the Gottscheers with putscherles in his extensive work The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola (1689).

Other Church Furnishings

The Church of the Three Wise Men stands in the centre of the village of Črni Potok (German: Schwarzenbach), which is listed in the register of cultural heritage as settlement heritage due to its well-preserved village core. The church rises on a small elevation in the middle of the village. Remnants of the former village cemetery wall recall the old cemetery, which was relocated in 1836 to nearby Zajčje Polje (German: Hasenfeld, Gottscheerish: Huəshnbold).

In addition to the main fresco, the church contains other exceptionally well-preserved furnishings. Among these are smaller wall paintings of the Crucified Christ and St. Michael weighing souls on a scale, as well as a late-17th-century altar, which also depicts the Adoration of the Three Wise Men.

Above the clock mechanism in the bell tower hang two iron bells dating from 1923; the smaller one is a donation from the Eisenzopf family from America.

Threats to the Church Due to Structural Damage

Today, the church is unfortunately in very poor condition. Ground subsidence and earthquake damage have caused deep cracks in the structure, threatening both the building itself and the valuable frescoes. Without timely and appropriate measures, there is a serious risk that an important part of the historical and cultural heritage will be lost.

Since 2023, the Putscherle Institute has been working to protect and restore this cultural monument. A significant step forward was made at the beginning of 2025, when the Municipality of Kočevje allocated initial funds for professional analyses. These will precisely determine the necessary restoration measures – but it is already clear that the renovation will be extensive and financially demanding, and we will therefore be grateful for any donation.

The church in Črni Potok is not merely an architectural remnant. It is a bearer of local identity, a silent narrator of regional history, and a symbol of cultural coexistence in the Kočevje region. Preserving such places means preserving memory – and also creates opportunities for the development of cultural tourism in the region. Treh kraljev v Črnem Potoku ni le arhitekturni ostanek. Je nosilka identitete prostora, tiha pripovedovalka lokalne zgodovine in simbol sobivanja kultur na Kočevskem. Ohranitev takšnih krajev pomeni ohranitev spomina – pa tudi priložnost za razvoj kulturnega turizma na Kočevskem.

Sources:

Resman, Blaž in Helena Seražin. 2010. Upravna enota Kočevje: umetnostna topografija Kočevske. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC.

Zupan, Gojko, Ferenc, Mitja in France Dolinar. 1993. Cerkve na Kočevskem nekoč in danes. Kočevje: Župnija, Muzej.

V prejšnji objavi preberite: Turški vpadi: odsev v kočevarskem izročilu

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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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Today, as we ascend the asphalt road from Črmošnjice towards the Gače ski resort or venture further into the vast forest, we have only telltale signs that we are passing through one of the largest former Gottscheer villages in this part of Kočevski Rog. This is Topli Vrh, situated on the sunny side of Topli vrh Hill. As early as prehistoric times, there was a hillfort or elevated settlement on top of this hill, and it controlled the road through the valley.

The village dates back to the 13th century. In the 1574 urbarium, the name of the village is recorded as Tablwerch. At that time, there were 6 part-time farming operations in the village, with between 30 and 35 residents. In 1770, the village had 15 houses, and the number was the same in 1824. At that time, the compilers of the Franciscan cadastre recorded that the village had 114 inhabitants, of which 56 were men and 58 women. It is also evident from the cadastre that the houses stood along the road, and the village was surrounded by meadows, orchards, fields and forest.

In 1880, there were 21 houses and 123 inhabitants, and in 1900 there were 129 inhabitants. In 1936, the village had 24 occupied houses with 125 inhabitants, and another five houses stood derelict. The villagers were engaged in cutting down the forest and selling wood. Some were probably also charcoal burners. In addition, they also farmed and raised livestock to meet their needs. In 1834, 3 horses, 30 oxen, 11 cows, 10 calves and lambs, 45 sheep and 15 pigs were recorded in the village. Some inhabitants were also involved in the manufacture and sale of wooden containers. Two landowners also cultivated a vineyard on Semiška gora Hill.

Children from Tople Vrh attended school in Črmošnjice. Its origins go back to the year 1822. In 1929, 24 out of 108 inhabitants of Topli vrh were schoolchildren. Heavy snow and snow drifts were a problem for children attending school in winter.

The Church of St St Peter and St Paul

Church of Peter and Paul (whose feast day is 29 June) is a parish church of the Črmošnjice parish. Its first mention dates back to 1689, when Valvasor referred to it in his Glory of the Duchy of Carniola. The church is probably at least 200 years older than this. On the main, engraved altar (erected at the end of the 17th or beginning of the 18th century) were statues of St Peter and St Paul, and adorning the side were statues of St Anthony and St Francis, as well as some other lesser known saints. There were also two side altars decorated with paintings of St Mary, the Mother of Good Counsel, and the Saints Cosmas and Damian. A wooden vault arched over the church nave, and there was a wooden chancel, a pulpit and 27 pews. Three bells hung in the bell tower.

The village and church during and immediately after World War II

Topli Vrh shared the fate of most of the Gottscheer villages in Kočevski Rog. After the occupation by the army of fascist Italy, all 118 inhabitants of the village left the village on 20 and 21 December 1941 and moved via the railway station to Semič in the Lower Sava Valley and Posotelje on what was then the lower border of Hitler’s Nazi Third Reich. The village was burnt down by the Italian army on 22 July 1942 during an offensive. One house and the church escaped the fire. During the offensive, Italian soldiers stayed there and destroyed the church pews and parts of the altars by burning them. On the wall, which had been scorched by fire, they scratched in Italian the words “Partisans were destroyed” (still visible in 1947). Partisans also spent at least one night in the church; in August 1942, a battalion of the Tomšič Brigade is mentioned. The village was never rebuilt. Between 1943 and 1945, several hidden partisan hospitals functioned in the forests nearby. The window frames of the damaged church and some of the roof tiles were used to build them. Paintings and altar statues were destroyed or damaged.

Immediately after the end of the war, the ruins of the houses were razed and the building materials used in constructing the embankments of the road to Komarna village. The church walls were once again blasted in 1964. The bell tower was, however, left in place, as due to its strategic position it served as an orientation point for the military authorities. The village of Topli Vrh was abandoned as a settlement in 1955, as were one third of the destroyed former settlements in the Kočevska region.

“We went to Topli Vrh” – a wedding in March 1945

The painters Alenka Gerlovič and Vito Globočnik worked as artists in the Partisan movement. In 1944 and 1945, they also visited and depicted the burnt village of Topli Vrh. The lovers decided to get married. Their superiors initially opposed this. They wanted a modest wedding without pomp, which they arbitrarily held on 23 March 1945 at the top of the bell tower of the church in Topli Vrh. This ritual was witnessed by the statues of two armless saints that they took from the damaged altar. They carved their names and the date into the beam on the bell tower, and their informal marriage was sealed.

Topli Vrh in the 21st Century

Today, the scant stone remains of the church, houses, their water reservoirs and fruit trees are all that is left of the former village. The 1:50 scale model of the church was made by Tone Troha. The pastures are grazed by cattle and horses from the Mihelčič farm in the Municipality of Semič.

The most visible remnant of the former village is the church bell tower. In 2004, the modest remains of the church were cleaned and the roof of the bell tower was restored and covered with copper roofing. Inside, wooden stairs have been installed. The restoration was carried out by the Society of Native Gottschee Settlers and volunteers with financial support from South Tyrol. The greed for copper roofing and repeated attempts to steal it finally struck a final blow to the renovation efforts. During an attempted theft of the copper roofing on 3 April 2023, a spark from metal cutting probably caused the fire. Thus, the bell tower is once again roofless, left to slow dilapidation and silently calling out for restoration or at least some temporary protection. Perhaps in the future, the will and the strength to preserve and showcase our heritage will be mustered again.

Sources:

Arhiv Republike Slovenije, Franciscejski kataster za Kranjsko, k. o. Črmošnjice pri Kočevju, Katastrski cenilni elaborat, https://vac.sjas.gov.si/vac/search/details?id=375384 (dostop: november 2024).
Krajevni leksikon Dravske banovine (1937), dLib, https://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-IHXHRWQE, (dostop: november 2024).
Slovenska historična topografija za Kranjsko do leta 1500, ZRC SAZU, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/9789612549749, https://topografija.zrc-sazu.si/ (dostop: november 2024).
Slovenski šolski muzej, Šolski list (1929), Državna mešana šola v Črmošnjicah, Zgodovina Slovenije — SIstory, https://www.sistory.si/publication/24112 (dostop: november 2024).
Gottscheermatzelle, https://gottscheermatzelle.wordpress.com/gottscheer-history/, (dostop: november 2024).
Ministrstvo za kulturo, Register kulturne dediščine, Interaktivna karta kulturne dediščine, https://geohub.gov.si/ghapp/giskd/ (dostop: november 2024).
Obrazi slovenskih pokrajin, Alenka Gerlovič in Vito Globočnik, https://www.obrazislovenskihpokrajin.si/oseba/gerlovic-alenka/, https://www.obrazislovenskihpokrajin.si/oseba/globocnik-vito/ (dostop: november 2024).
Perko Drago. Kradli baker, zažgali cerkev! Slovenske novice, 5. 4. 2023, https://www.slovenskenovice.si/novice/slovenija/kradli-baker-zazgali-cerkev-foto/ (dostop: november 2024).
PGD Semič, Požar na Toplem Vrhu, 3. 4. 2023, https://www.facebook.com/profile/100064566140803/search/?q=toplem%20&locale=sl_SI (dostop: november 2024).
Topli Vrh: Zagorel spomeniško zaščiten zvonik, 4. 4. 2023, https://moja-dolenjska.si/topli-vrh-zagorel-spomenisko-zasciten-zvonik/#goog_rewarded (dostop: november 2024).
Ferenc Mitja in Zupan Gojko. Cerkve na Kočevskem nekoč in danes II. Ljubljana: ZRC SAZU, 2006.
Ferenc Mitja in Zupan Gojko. Izgubljene kočevske vasi: nekoč so z nami živeli kočevski Nemci. 3. del. Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete, 2013.
Ferenc Mitja in Zupan Gojko. Po sledeh Kočevarjev v Črmošnjiško-Poljanski dolini / Auf den Spuren der Gottscheer in der Moschnitze. Dolenjske Toplice : Društvo Kočevarjev staroselcev = Gottscheer Altsiedler Verein, 2013.
Gerlovič Alenka. Okruški mojega življenja. Ljubljana: Forma 7, 2006.
Janežič Zvonka. Arheološka najdišča Kočevskega roga in Poljanske gore. Diplomsko delo. Oddelek za arheologijo Filozofske fakultete univerze v Ljubljani, 2022.
Mohar Rozi. Tu so živeli …Semič: Občina, 2008.
Prelesnik Anton. Vodni viri na Kočevskem / Wasserquellen im Gottscheerland. Dolenjske Toplice, Ljubljana: Društvo Kočevarjev staroselcev, ZRC SAZU, 2007.
Simonič Binca, ur. Župnija Črmošnjice 500 let: 1509-2009. Semič: Župnija, 2009.
Strle Franci. Tomšičeva brigada 1942-1943. Ljubljana: Borec in Partizanska knjiga, 1986.
Troha Anton in Anton Prelesnik. Makete kočevarskih cerkva in krajev / Maquetten von Gottscheer Kirchen und Ortschaften. Ljubljana: “Maks Viktor” in Dolenjske Toplice: Društvo Kočevarjev staroselcev, 2011.

Previous post: The Mala Knežja jama (Fürstloch) and the Jama nad Dolgim vodnjakom caves: archaeological sites in the central part of Kočevski Rog.

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The Ballad of the Child Murderess: Comparison of Slovenian and Gottscheer Ballads

Before World War II, versions of the ballad involving a child murderess were also widespread in the Kočevsko Region. The first Gottscheer variant is very similar to the Slovenian one: instead of a shepherd, an old man appears, but otherwise it involves a similar development of the motif. In the Slovenian versions, the mother murdered two children, threw them into the water, and put one in a hollow beech tree or under a block of beech wood. In the Gottscheer version, the little child is taken to the house where the wedding is taking place by an old man, but in the Slovene version they are mostly taken by the uncle (mother’s brother). In all the variants, both Slovenian and Gottscheer, the mother bride denies giving birth, and in all of them she wears a green wreath expressing her innocence. In the Slovene versions, the wreath alters its appearance or starts to burn, while in the Gottscheer version (and in the first written Slovene version), the child murderess is carried away by the devil.

However, the second Gottscheer version is quite different. There is a dialogue between the mother and a girl, Mina, who laments to her mother that she is not feeling well, whereupon her mother advises her what to do three times. When the advice is to no avail, Mina admits that she is pregnant. She has previously given birth to nine children, two of them she concealed in a tree and she drowned the others. The girl ventures off into the forest, where she dies during labour, and her son remains in her arms. The song ends with the son studying to become a priest and save his mother, father and friends from perdition through masses, but not his grandmother, who never helped his mother.

We present the Gottscheer variant in the fragment below. There are 188 Slovenian versions of this type of song (published in Slovenian Folk Songs, Slovenska matica and Založba ZRC, 2007; SFS V/type 286):

Ballad of the Child Murderess, Hauffen 1895, No. 79: English translation (via Slovenian translation):

The Ballad of a Condemned Child Murderess Based on a True Story

Let us say a few words about a special type of ballad involving a child murderess. The ballad of a condemned child murderess belongs among the so-called family ballads. So far, 80 variants are known throughout Slovenia. This is one of the rare type of ballad that originated in an urban setting and then spread to the countryside, as can be inferred from the geographical spread of the variants recorded.

The story of the unfortunate illegitimate mother who murders her new-born child and is condemned to death was based on a real-life event. Information about it can be found in the account ledgers of the Municipal Court of Ljubljana, where payments to executioners for their activities are recorded. Thus, under the expenses in 1766, it is stated that on 23 October 1766, Martin Jakob, the executioner from Št. Vid in Carinthia, received 40 goldinars because on the previous day, he had executed with a sword Urša Mandlovka (Maldnlovka, Mandeljc?), household name Kustrovka, aged 17. She had a reputation for being the most beautiful girl under the bell of St. Peter’s Parish Church in Ljubljana and had been convicted of infanticide.

The Punishment of Urša Mandlovka

Urša was thrown into jail, i.e. the dungeon (tranča), after which one of the oldest parts of Ljubljana is named today – Ulica pod Trančo Street, as mentioned in some versions of the ballad. Ursa’s boyfriend and the child’s father is said to have been a farmhand called Jurij. She murdered the child because she feared the harsh penalties and public shame that came with illegitimate motherhood. A girl with an illegitimate child had to stand barefoot as a sinner before the gates of the (St.Peter’s) Parish Church, holding her baby in her arms and a burning candle in her right hand. Her braids were cut off and two straw plaits were pinned in their place. People who came to the church would revile her and spit on her, and whoever wanted to was allowed to strike her with a rod that lay at her feet. The crown of straw symbolised the loss of virginity, the rod a sign of punishment and the burning candle a sign of penance.

Such exposures were partly abandoned under Empress Maria Theresa’s 1769 Penal and Procedural Code (Constitutio Criminalis Theresiana), which mostly stipulated fines, escalating fines and corporal punishments instead of shameful exposure. In 1868, the civil authorities moved public executions behind the walls of the gaols, but after 1873, when the new Penal Code was published, they were no longer allowed at all.

The circumstances that led to the infanticide were not taken into account by the male judges, because the woman was not considered a person, instead being the property of men. Indeed, the ballad does not touch on these issues either and all the blame was attributed to the illegitimate sexual activity of the girls, which was strongly condemned by the ecclesiastical lords. None of the ballad variants depict the social problems, i.e. poverty and the difficult social situation of the child murderesses. Urška Mandlovka was sentenced to death as a poor girl, but the executioner fell in love with her and begged the judges to allow him to take her as his wife to save her from perdition. Urška refused this because of the very strong popular belief at the time that the executioner (hangman, headsman) was associated with the devil.

She was executed at the Ljubljana scaffold at Friškovec, where a stone cross stood in the middle of the fields. The song also mentions the “place” of execution, namely “in the middle of a field in Ljubljana”. The procession passed through the suburbs of Šentjanž along present-day Vidovdanska cesta Road towards Šmartno ob Savi.

The “Condemned Child Murderess” Ballad Path

In addition to the aforementioned, we know “The Condemned Child Murderess” ballad path, which was created so we could follow the fate of the child murderess through the stations on the streets of present-day Ljubljana as recorded in the song, which would transport us back to the 18th century when this real event took place.

The article The Folk Ballad of the Infanticide: Slovenian and Gottscheer Versions was created as part of the project The Weight of the past. Heritage of the Multicultural Area: Case Study of Gottschee , which was financially supported by the Slovenian Research Agency.

Previous post: Reflection of the Aristocratic World in the Gottscheer Folk Song Tradition.

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Folk Song Material in the Archive of the Institute of Ethnomusicology of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts

As part of the research project Teža preteklosti. Dediščina večkulturnega območja: primer Kočevske we also paid more attention to the material collected by colleagues of the Institute of Ethnomusicology ZRC SAZU during the 90-year history of the Institute (which is celebrating its round anniversary this year), or even older material that the Institute holds as the central institution for folk music, song and dance in Slovenia. At first, we seemed to have almost no material for the period prior to World War II, but a closer examination of the archives showed that this was not the case. The material collected specifically by the Institute’s staff is not very extensive, but thanks to cooperation with related institutions in Austria and Germany, the Institute keeps copies of material stored in other countries. Folk songs were recorded in the Kočevska region at a time when Slovenia was still part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

Recordings in the Kočevska Region

But back to the surprises. After World War II, in 1953 to be precise, the Institute started sound recordings. This means that they visited people and recorded their singing. Several of these recordings took place in the Kočevsko Region. In 1992, mag. Igor Cvetko recorded a group of singers in Kočevska Reka, who sang the following songs for him: Tam dol na ravnem polju (Down in the Level Field), Preozke so stezice (The Trails are too Narrow), Ko psi zalajajo po celi vas na glas (When the Dogs’ Loud Barking is Heard All Over the Village), Fantič pride pod okence stat (The Boy Comes to Stand Under the Window), Sijaj mi sončece (Shine On My Sunshine), Duša le pojdi zmanoj (Sweet Soul Just Go with Me), Ênglaš valcer (English Waltz) (accordion), Ta stara polka (That Old Polka) (accordion), Se spominjaš davnih časov (Do You Still Remember the Old Days) (accordion), Moje dekle je še mlado, ja, ja (My Girl is Still Young, Oh Yeah), Sinoči je pela (Last Night She Sang), En hribček bom kupil (One Little Hill I’ll Buy), Grêmo na Štajersko (Let’s Wander Off to Štajerska), Ko so fantje proti vasi šli (When the Boys Went to the Village), Moj očka ima konjička dva (My Daddy Has Two Little Horses), Moj fantič je na t(i)rolsko vandral (My Little Boy Went to the Tyrol), Al me boš kaj rada imela (Think You’ll Love Me), Ko so Adáma pokopal (When They Buried Adám), Soča voda je šumela (The Waters of the Soča Murmured), Micika v püngradi (Micika in Püngradi), Rozamunda (Rosamunda) (accordion), Ena starinska (Ye’ Old Song) (accordion).

Pesem Micika v püngradi: Folk Songs of the Prekmurje Region in Kočevska Region

Püngrad is the Prekmurje word for garden. In the folk song, Micika is in the garden picking flowers and talking to her sweetheart.

The song from the Micika v püngradi recording is sung by a woman and a man in a beautiful (authentic) Prekmurje dialect. They moved to the Kočevska region in 1954 from Prekmurje, namely from two different places. The resettlement of inhabitants of Prekmurje to villages in the Kočevska region that had been emptied during World War II is well known and documented. However, it seems that it is only when we hear this song sung in a dialect from the opposite end of Slovenia that we become aware of their presence. I presented the sound recording of this song at a panel organised as part of the above-mentioned project in Ljubljana in March 2024. It was also attended by two local women from the Kočevska area, descendants of the Gottscheers. Their reaction when they heard the first verses of the song piqued my interest, because it was completely foreign to them. Although they are well acquainted with the history of the area, are involved in the local life and actively participate in cultural associations, they were still surprised by this song. In fact, the song is a beautiful example of how fluid tradition actually is and how folk songs are transferred from one place to another. The case is also of interest to researchers working on the theory of heritage, its formation and change.

Article How Did Micika v püngradi come to the Kočevska Region? – Folk Songs of the Prekmurje Region in Kočevska Region

is part of the project Teža preteklosti. Dediščina večkulturnega območja: primer Kočevske , which was financially supported by the Slovenian Research Agency.

Our previous post: Cemetery in Stari Log.

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What kind of an animal is lynx – the mysterious denizen of our forests?

The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is the largest feral cat living in Europe. The adult animal measures 70–130 cm in length and weighs between 12 to 35 kg. It has a distinctive feline head, which appears bigger due to tufts of longer hair at the sides. There are also distinctive tufts at the end of its triangular ears. The fur is brown with a unique pattern of spots and speckles. Every lynx has a different pattern, just like humans have different fingerprints.

In Europe, the lynx lives in forest habitats. It needs large, dense forest areas to survive and, as an apex predator, plays an important role in the ecosystem. It mostly hunts roe deer, but also feeds on dormice, chamois and red deer calves. As a predator, it maintains healthy populations of wild ungulates, impacting their numbers and behaviour, and thus indirectly protects plant growth.

In Slovenia, the lynx is found mainly in the Dinaric fir-beech forests, which are relatively sparsely populated. The High Dinaric Karst is characterised by karst landforms such as basins, precipices, caves, overhanging rocks and rock formations. The rugged environment suits the lynx very well. Rocks serve as lookout points, and it likes to walk on fallen trunks, along ridge edges, rock-shelters and faults.

It can be found in the areas of Trnovo Forest Plateau, Nanos, Menišija Plateau and Javorník Hills and the forests of Kočevje. Until recently, lynx were extremely rare in the Slovenian Alps.

We have already lost a lynx once

The lynx used to be present throughout Slovenia until it disappeared at the beginning of the 20th century due to overhunting and deforestation. In 1973, hunters and foresters reintroduced the species to the Kočevje area and it has successfully spread over large parts of the Dinarides and the eastern Alps. But by the beginning of the new millennium, its existence was endangered once again due to inbreeding. To prevent extinction, 18 lynx from Slovakia and Romania were translocated to Slovenia and Croatia as part of the LIFE Lynx project. For now, the population is safe, but its survival depends largely on us.

What we know, we tend to value more

Education is a key activity in protecting a particular element of nature, as ignorance is often the cause of its endangerment. Nature needs to be brought closer to people so that we can appreciate and admire it and become sensitive to the loss and endangerment of different species. For this purpose, the Lynx Educational Trail was established in Kočevje. It is located near “Koča pri Jelenovem studencu” mountain hut and offers visitors an insight into the life of lynx, the challenges their population is facing and the important role they play in the ecosystem. Ris je krovna vrsta, z varovanjem risa varujemo tudi njegov življenjski prostor in posledično vse ostale rastlinske in živalske vrste, ki so pomembne za zdrav in delujoč ekosistem, od katerega smo odvisni tudi ljudje.

Lynx has already been lost once – let us hope that this time – with a changed attitude towards nature and an awareness of our interconnectedness – we will be able to preserve it.

Sources: Čadež, D., Jankovič, N., Kavčič, I., & Pšeničnik, A. (2023). Didaktična priporočila za risovo pot (1st Edition, p. 19). Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Ljubljana, Department of Biology.

Read the previous post: Franc Volf, a miner from Kočevje: memories of a miner’s life in Kočevje.

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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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On the main road through the village of Občice in the municipality of Dolenjske Toplice stands a restored, blue-painted old farmhouse. Since 1998, it has housed the Society of Native Gottschee Settlers. The society was founded in 1992 and promotes and preserves the cultural heritage of the Gottschee region. The main activities of the society include a folklore and singing group, the publication of the newspaper “Bakh – Pot“, German and Gottscheer language courses and children’s workshops. In 2014, an orchard was planted next to the main building, where old varieties of fruit trees typical of the Gottschee region are preserved. The association also actively participates in the Days of Gottschee Culture, an event starting in 2015 alternately organised by the municipalities of Kočevje, Dolenjske Toplice and Semič.

The redesign of the ethnological collection of the Gottscheers in Občice

Co-workers in the arrangement of the Gottscheer collection

Within the framework of the so-called student project for sustainable development “Ethnological collection of Gottscheers and the walking path among old varieties of fruit trees“, funded by the University of Ljubljana, the already existing ethnological collection and the orchard of old varieties of trees were reinterpreted and redesigned. The students who participated in the project, which started in June 2023 and ended in September 2023, were Jana Rajh Plohl, Pika Pipan, Gaja Slapnik, Klara Vrabl and Kaja Večko. The project leader was Dr. Anja Moric from the Department of Ethology and Cultural Anthropology at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. Other co-mentors of the project were Dr. Tanja Žigon, Department of Translation at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, and Primož Primec, the President of the Society of Native Gottschee Settlers. Urška Gruden from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana was responsible for the administration and coordination of the project.

The process of setting up the ethnological collection of the Gottscheers

In the attic of the main house, the outbuilding and under the adjacent hayrack, we have set up a collection of objects used by the Gottscheers from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century in their work in the fields and in their daily lives, such as dormouse traps, scales, agricultural tools, beehives, etc. In addition, two models of Gottschee villages made by forester Anton Prelesnik are exhibited in the outbuilding.

The students conducted several interviews with Gottscheers from Občice and the surrounding area and, as far as possible, recorded Gottscheer expressions for the exhibited objects. Nowadays only a few can speak the Gottscheer language. In the interviews we inquired about their daily life, customs, beekeeping, fruit trees, etc. Through the conversations with the locals, we learned firsthand how the people of the Gottschee region used to live. Sometimes the conversation also revolved around the differences between generations. In one of the interviews with Johannes Hans Jaklitsch, the topic of pasture farming came up. We compared how differently young people grow up today. Mr. Jaklitsch regretted that the games that children used to play in the pasture are no longer played by the younger generations.

Translation work

During the project, two students from the Department of Translation translated a section from the book “Abbildung und Beschreibung der südwest- und östlichen Wenden, Illyrer und Slaven” by Balthasar Hacquet. In it Hacquet described the Gottscheers; therefore the texts were also used for the exhibition panels. This was the first time we were confronted with a 19th century German text that had to be translated into Slovenian. Although we updated the text for today’s readers, we tried to keep the original writing style, as we felt it was important to preserve it. Later, all the texts on the exhibition panels, which were originally written in Slovenian, were translated into English and German. In addition, the project produced an information brochure for visitors about the ethnological collection and the orchard, also in three languages.

Anyone interested in the historical and ethnological features of the Kočevje region, such as: dormouse hunting, peddling, waggon driving, fruit growing, etc., is invited to visit the renovated ethnological collection and the orchard with old fruit varieties of the Association of Gottscheer Native Settlers, which was opened on September 18, 2023.

The authors of the article, Klara Vrabl and Kaja Večko, are students at the Department of Translation Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana.

In September 2023, 130 years have passed since the arrival of the railway in Kočevje. Read more.

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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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