Klinja Vas (; , ,''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''. Kočevje: Pokrajinski muzej, p. 4.

Gottscheerish Gottscheerish (''Göttscheabarisch'',Maridi Tscherne: Wörterbuch Gottscheerisch-Slowenisch. Einrichtung für die Erhaltung des Kulturerbes Nesseltal, Koprivnik/Nesseltal 2010. , ) is an Upper German dialect which was the main language of c ...

: ''Klindoarf''Petschauer, Erich. 1980. "Die Gottscheer Siedlungen – Ortsnamenverzeichnis." In ''Das Jahrhundertbuch der Gottscheer'' (pp. 181–197). Klagenfurt: Leustik.) is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

north of

Kočevje Kočevje (; ; ''Göttscheab'' or ''Gətscheab'' in the local Gottscheerish dialect; ) is a town and the seat of Municipality of Kočevje in southern Slovenia. Geography The town is located at the foot of the Kočevski Rog karst plateau on t ...

in southern

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. The area is part of the traditional region of

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region in Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south an ...

and is now included in the

Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region The Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region () 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 auto industry, pharmaceuticals, and other light ...

Name

The Slovene name ''Klinja Vas'' and the German name ''Klindorf'' both literally mean 'Klin village'. ''Klin'' was a surname recorded in the land registry of 1574, and so the name means 'village where the Klin family lives'. The surname ''Klin'' (along with similar surnames like ''Klinar'') is believed to be derived from the Slovene common noun ''klin'' 'triangular, wedge-shaped piece of land'.

History

Klinja Vas was a Gottschee German village. It is one of the oldest settlements in Gottschee. According to the land registry of 1574 it had eight full farms divided into 16 half-farms with 20 landowners, corresponding to a population between 80 and 85. In 1770 there were 33 houses in the settlement. The village reached its prewar maximum population in 1921, with 43 houses and 223 people.Ferenc, Mitja, & Gojko Zupan. 2012. ''Izgubljene kočevske vasi'', vol. 2 (K–P). Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani. Before the Second World War, six ethnic Slovene families also lived in the village,Savnik, Roman, ed. 1971. ''Krajevni leksikon Slovenije'', vol. 2. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, p. 224. which had 50 houses and a population of 163. The economy of Klinja Vas was connected with farming and woodcutting, and there were also several blacksmiths, carpenters, and joiners in the settlement. There were also two inns in the village, belonging to the Michitsch and Schober families. At the time, there was some emigration from the village to Canada. The ethnic German residents of the village, numbering 118 people from 29 families, were evicted during the Second World War. The village came under Partisan aerial bombardment on 24 April 1945 in an attack aimed at a German post in neighboring

Mahovnik Mahovnik (; in older sources also ''Mošvald'';''Intelligenzblatt zur Laibacher Zeitung'', no. 141. 24 November 1849, p. 26 ,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna i ...

. After the war, only 17 houses remained habitable and there was a population of 73. New settlers came to the village from the areas of Ribnica, Loški Potok, and

Dry Carniola Dry Carniola (, ) is a small area in the northwest part of Lower Carniola. Geography Dry Carniola is centered around the town of Žužemberk, its largest settlement. The Krka River flows through the area, and Regional Road 216 (R1-216) passes th ...

(). There is a large hog farm east of the village today, where many of the villagers work.

Church

The local

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

is dedicated to

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

and belongs to the

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Kočevje. It has a painted wooden ceiling dating to around 1660 in its

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number ešd 1887 In the 17th century, the church was dedicated to the

Holy Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

. It had a shingled roof (now replaced by ceramic roof tiles) and obtained its current appearance in the 17th century, when the

bell-gable The bell gable (, , ) is an architectural element crowning the upper end of the wall of church buildings, usually in lieu of a church tower. It consists of a gable end in stone, with small hollow semi-circular arches where the church bells are ...

was replaced by a square bell tower. The original bells were removed by Austrian troops during the First World War. The two bells now in the bell tower were cast at the Bühl foundry in Maribor in 1924, and the larger one has a German inscription invoking the aid of Mary Magdalene. The painted wooden ceiling in the nave is divided into four fields, with the central field depicting Saints Peter and Paul, and the others with angelic heads and flowers and fruit. The polygonal

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

is walled on three sides. The main altar is a

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

work dating to 1896 by Peter Rutar from

Osilnica Osilnica (, in older sources also ''Osivnica'', ) is a settlement in southern Slovenia. It is located on the left bank of the Kolpa River next to the border with Croatia. It is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola and is now included ...

. Behind the altar is a painting of Christ crucified with blood flowing from an overturned chalice. The church is surrounded by a walled cemetery. After the Second World War, most of the Gottschee German gravestone were removed from the cemetery. It is believed that some of them were built into the wall of the cemetery, but their inscriptions are turned inward and so they cannot be read.

References

External links

*
Klinja Vas on GeopediaPre–World War II map of Klinja Vas with oeconyms and family names
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klinja Vas Populated places in the Municipality of Kočevje