The Municipality of Kočevje (; sl, Občina Kočevje) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in southern

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. The seat of the municipality is the city of

Kočevje Kočevje (; german: Gottschee; ''Göttscheab'' or ''Gətscheab'' in the local Gottscheerish dialect; it, Cocevie) is a city in the Municipality of Kočevje in southern Slovenia. It is the seat of the municipality. Geography The town is loc ...

. Today it is part of the

Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region The Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region ( sl, Jugovzhodna Slovenija statistična regija) is a statistical region in southeast Slovenia. It is the largest statistical region. The development of this region is largely the result of industry (the au ...

. In terms of area, it is the largest municipality in Slovenia.

History

In 1247 Berthold, Patriarch of Aquileia granted the area around Ribnica within the imperial

March of Carniola The March (or Margraviate) of Carniola ( sl, Kranjska krajina; german: Mark Krain) was a southeastern state of the Holy Roman Empire in the High Middle Ages, the predecessor of the Duchy of Carniola. It corresponded roughly to the central Carniolan ...

to the

Carinthian Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carint ...

counts of Ortenburg. When the counts received further estates on the wooded plateau down to Kostel on the Kolpa River in 1336 from the hands of Patriarch Bertram, they called for German-speaking settlers from Carinthia and

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

. These Germanic people became known as the

Gottscheers Gottscheers are the German settlers of the Kočevje region (a.k.a. Gottschee) of Slovenia, formerly Gottschee County. Until the Second World War, their main language of communication was Gottscheerish, a Bavarian dialect of German. Origins Th ...

, and their dialect, Gottscheerish. Thousands of Gottscheers, and others, were accused of sympathy for or collaboration with the Axis Powers during World War II (such as the

Slovene Home Guard The Slovene Home Guard ( sl, Slovensko domobranstvo, SD; german: Slowenische Landeswehr) was a Slovene anti- Partisan military organization that was active during the 1943–1945 German occupation of the formerly Italian-occupied Province of Ljub ...

), after the war. They, and typically their entire families, were

summarily executed A summary execution is an execution in which a person is accused of a crime and immediately killed without the benefit of a full and fair trial. Executions as the result of summary justice (such as a drumhead court-martial) are sometimes include ...

, thrown into various pits and caves, which were then sealed with explosives.

Settlements

In addition to the municipal seat of Kočevje, the municipality also includes the following settlements: * Borovec pri Kočevski Reki * Breg pri Kočevju * Brezovica pri Predgradu * Bukova Gora * Čeplje * Črni Potok pri Kočevju * Cvišlerji * Dol * Dolga Vas * Dolnja Briga * Dolnje Ložine *

Gorenje Gorenje (); stylized as ''gorenje''), is a Slovenian major appliance manufacturer, founded in 1950 by Ivan Atelšek. It is based in Velenje, Slovenia. It is the fourth largest manufacturer of household appliances in Europe. Appliances are sold un ...

* Gornja Briga * Gornje Ložine * Gotenica * Griček pri Željnah * Hreljin * Hrib pri Koprivniku * Jelenja Vas * Kačji Potok * Kleč * Klinja Vas * Knežja Lipa * Koblarji * Kočarji * Koče * Kočevska Reka * Komolec * Konca Vas * Koprivnik * Kralji * Kuhlarji * Laze pri Oneku * Laze pri Predgradu * Livold * Mačkovec * Mahovnik * Mala Gora * Mlaka pri Kočevju * Mlaka pri Kočevski Reki * Mokri Potok * Morava * Mozelj * Mrtvice * Muha Vas * Nemška Loka * Nove Ložine * Novi Lazi * Ograja *

Onek Onek (; german: Hohenegg,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 40.Ferenc, Mitja. 2007. ''Nekdanji nemški jezikovni otok na kočevskem''. K ...

* Paka pri Predgradu * Podjetniško Naselje Kočevje * Podlesje * Podstene * Polom * Predgrad * Preža * Primoži * Pugled pri Starem Logu * Rajhenav * Rajndol * Rogati Hrib * Sadni Hrib * Šalka Vas * Seč * Škrilj * Slovenska Vas * Smuka * Spodnja Bilpa * Spodnji Log * Štalcerji * Stara Cerkev * Stari Breg * Stari Log * Staro Brezje * Suhi Potok * Svetli Potok * Topla Reber * Trnovec * Vimolj pri Predgradu *

Vrbovec Vrbovec () is a town in Zagreb County, Croatia, lying to the northeast of the capital Zagreb. Geography The town of Vrbovec lies to the north-east of Zagreb, either along the A4 motorway and the D10 expressway or by the old Zagreb – D ...

* Vrt * Zajčje Polje * Zdihovo * Željne

Flag

The municipal flag of Kočevje is a tricolor consisting of three equal horizontal bands displaying the colors of Kočevje:

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

and

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, emblazoned with the coat of arms. The association with the colors blue and white dates to the 1470s, when Emperor Frederick III approved the design of the coat of arms, along with civic rights, on 19 April 1471. The flag during that time varies from the one seen today. The old flag was a bicolor of blue and white, defaced with the coat of arms, which was also different at the time.

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in the Municipality of Kočevje include: *

Matej Bor Matej Bor was the pen name of Vladimir Pavšič (14 April 1913 – 29 September 1993), who was a Slovene poet, translator, playwright, journalist, and Partisan. Biography Matej Bor was born as Vladimir Pavšič in the village of Grgar near Gor ...

(1913–1993), poet and author * (1923–1999), academy-trained painter, art teacher, art theorist *

Ivan Jurkovič Ivan Jurkovič (born 10 June 1952) is a Slovenian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been the Apostolic Nuncio to Canada since June 2021. He has worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See since 1984 and was the Nuncio to Russia and N ...

(born 1952), apostolic nuncio to Russia * Zofka Kveder (1878–1926), writer * (1860–1923), longtime mayor * (1858–1924), composer * Roman Erich Petsche (1907–1993), teacher, painter, and

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sa ...

* (1908–1942), secondary-school professor, social revolutionary, communist resistance fighter * (1898–?), geologist, taught at the secondary school before the Second World War

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

*
Municipality of Kočevje on Geopedia

Website of the Municipality of Kočevje
{{DEFAULTSORT:Municipality of Kocevje Kocevje 1994 establishments in Slovenia