Dravograd
Encyclopedia
Dravograd is a small town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 and a municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in northern Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

, close to the border with Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

. It lies on the Drava
Drava
Drava or Drave is a river in southern Central Europe, a tributary of the Danube. It sources in Toblach/Dobbiaco, Italy, and flows east through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria, into Slovenia , and then southeast, passing through Croatia and forming most of the border between Croatia and...

 River at the confluence with the Meža
Meža
The Meža is a long river in Carinthia, Slovenia. It has its source on the Austrian side of the state border near Mount Olševa, becomes subterranean a kilometer from its source, and reappears on the surface in Koprivna near Črna na Koroškem, Slovenia. It is the central river of the Mežica Valley...

 and the Mislinja
Mislinja
Mislinja is a river in the northern part of Slovenia. It is long. It flows through Mislinja and Slovenj Gradec and empties into the Meža River near Dravograd just before the Meža joins the Drava River.-External links:*, interactive map at...

. It is part of the traditional Slovenian province of Carinthia).

The municipality consists of 24 settlements grouped into five local communities: Dravograd, Črneče
Crnece
Črneče is a village on the right bank of the river Drava in the Municipality of Dravograd in the Carinthia region in northern Slovenia.The local church in the centre of the settlement is dedicated to Saint Andrew and Saint James and dates to the early 15th century with some later...

, Libeliče
Libeliče
Libeliče is a village in the Municipality of Dravograd in the Carinthia region in northern Slovenia, right on the border with Austria.The parish church in the settlement is dedicated to Saint Martin and belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor...

, Šentjanž pri Dravogradu, and Trbonje. In 2002, the town of Dravograd itself had about 3,377 inhabitants.

The parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 in the settlement is dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist
John the Evangelist
Saint John the Evangelist is the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John...

 and belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor. It was first mentioned in written documents dating to the late 14th century. It was rebuilt in 1520 and in 1621. The current church is Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...

 with a characteristic onion dome
Onion dome
An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles the onion, after which they are named. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the drum upon which they are set, and their height usually exceeds their width...

 on its belfry
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...

. A second church in the town is dedicated to Saint Vitus
Vitus
Saint Vitus was a Christian saint from Sicily. He died as a martyr during the persecution of Christians by co-ruling Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian in 303. Vitus is counted as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers of the Roman Catholic Church....

 and is a late 12th-century Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 building.

The name Dravograd was invented during the Slovene national revival in the 19th century. Previously, the local Slovene name of the town was Traberk, a corruption of the German name Drauburg. Even today, the name Traberk is used by many locals instead of Dravograd.

History

From 976 onwards the area of Dravograd was part of the Duchy of Carinthia
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....

. The German name Unterdrauburg denoted the place where the Drava River left Carinthia and flowed into the neighbouring Duchy of Styria
Duchy of Styria
The history of Styria concerns the region roughly corresponding to the modern Austrian state of Styria and the Slovene region of Styria from its settlement by Germans and Slavs in the Dark Ages until the present...

. It corresponded with Oberdrauburg
Oberdrauburg
Oberdrauburg is a market town in the district of Spittal an der Drau at the western rim of the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is situated near the Kärntner Tor , where the Drava river crosses the border from East Tyrol to Carinthia. In the west it shares border with the Tyrolian municipality of...

 up the river at Carinthia's western border with the County of Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...

. The 19th century was a period of national awakening
Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...

 of the Carinthian Slovenes
Carinthian Slovenes
Carinthian Slovenes are the Slovene-speaking population group in the Austrian State of Carinthia. The Carinthian Slovenes send representatives to the National Ethnic Groups Advisory Council...

, and also of the rise of competing nationalisms: Slovene and ethnic German
Ethnic German
Ethnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...

.

After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918, the whole area south of Dravograd was occupied by the volunteer forces of Slovene Major Franjo Malgaj
Franjo Malgaj
Franjo Malgaj was a Slovenian soldier, military leader and poet. He was an officer of the Austro-Hungarian Army...

, acting in the name of the newly established State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was a short-lived state formed from the southernmost parts of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy after its dissolution at the end of the World War I by the resident population of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs...

. The town of Dravograd itself however remained in the hands of the volunteers acting in the name of German Austria
German Austria
Republic of German Austria was created following World War I as the initial rump state for areas with a predominantly German-speaking population within what had been the Austro-Hungarian Empire, without the Kingdom of Hungary, which in 1918 had become the Hungarian Democratic Republic.German...

. In mid-December 1918, Dravograd was seized by the volunteer forces of Slovene General Rudolf Maister
Rudolf Maister
Rudolf Maister was a Slovene military officer, poet and political activist. The soldiers who fought under Maister's command in northern Slovenia became known as "Maister's fighters"...

. With the Treaty of Saint Germain of 1919, Dravograd became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

).

In the interwar period
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....

, the area of Dravograd witnessed an important process of industrialization. In the 1930s, social tensions grew as the consequence of the world economic crisis, as did the tensions between the small ethnic German
Ethnic German
Ethnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...

 minority and the Slovene-speaking majority. In the late 1930s, the Nazi movement started penetrating the German community in Dravograd, triggering the reaction of the Slovene majority. Physical violence between the pro-Nazi organization and the local section of the Sokol
Sokol
The Sokol movement is a youth sport movement and gymnastics organization first founded in Czech region of Austria-Hungary, Prague, in 1862 by Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner...

 movement were common. In 1939 and in 1940, two mass anti-Nazi rallies were held in the municipality of Dravograd, organized by patriotic and nationalist Slovene organizations, mostly of left-wing orientation.

In April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia
Invasion of Yugoslavia
The Invasion of Yugoslavia , also known as the April War , was the Axis Powers' attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II...

, Dravograd was occupied by Nazi German forces and de facto annexed to the Third Reich. The use of the Slovene language was prohibited, all Slovene organizations were abolished, and numerous Slovenes were deported to central Germany or to Nedić's Serbia
Nedic's Serbia
Serbia under German occupation refers to an administrative area in occupied Yugoslavia established by Nazi Germany following the invasion and dismantling of Yugoslavia in April of 1941...

. Local Slovene political activists were either executed or deported to concentration camps. In July 1941, the local artist Franjo Golob organized an underground anti-Nazi resistance cell, which was however soon discovered. Violent repression followed, which hindered the further development of anti-German resistance in this area. In mid-1943, the Slovenian partisan resistance movement started taking roots in the Dravograd area, which grew stronger by 1944, despite the brutal repressions of the Nazi authorities. In May 1945, the whole area was liberated by the Yugoslav Partisans.

In the communist period, the Dravograd area further developed its industrial capacities. During the Slovenian war of independence in June and July 1991, some fighting took place in the Dravograd area.

Transportation

The Dravograd railway station
Dravograd railway station
Dravograd railway station is a railway station in Dravograd, Slovenia. It is located on the main railway line between Maribor, Slovenia and Villach, Austria.- External links :*...

 is on the Drautalbahn railway line from Maribor
Maribor
Maribor is the second largest city in Slovenia with 157,947 inhabitants . Maribor is also the largest and the capital city of Slovenian region Lower Styria and the seat of the Municipality of Maribor....

 to Innichen (San Candido)
Innichen
Innichen is a market town and comune in South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.It is located in the Puster Valley on the Drava river, about 120 km northeast of Trento and about 80 km northeast of Bolzano , on Italy's border with Austria.As November 2010, it had a...

 in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, opened in 1863. Highway No. 3
Transport in Slovenia
- Railways :total:1,229 km operated by Slovenian Railwaysstandard gauge:1,229 km gauge - Railway links with adjacent countries : Italy - yes Croatia - yes Hungary - yes Austria - yes- Roads :total:...

 leading from Maribor
Maribor
Maribor is the second largest city in Slovenia with 157,947 inhabitants . Maribor is also the largest and the capital city of Slovenian region Lower Styria and the seat of the Municipality of Maribor....

 to the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n border runs through the town, where highway No. 10-10 to Celje
Celje
Celje is a typical Central European town and the third largest town in Slovenia. It is a regional center of Lower Styria and the administrative seat of the Urban Municipality of Celje . The town of Celje is located under Upper Celje Castle at the confluence of the Savinja, Ložnica, and Voglajna...

 branches off.

Other Data

  • Postal code
    Postal code
    A postal code is a series of letters and/or digits appended to a postal address for the purpose of sorting mail. Once postal codes were introduced, other applications became possible.In February 2005, 117 of the 190 member countries of the Universal Postal Union had postal code systems...

    : SI-2370
  • Area code
    Telephone numbers in Slovenia
    Country Code: +386International Call Prefix: 00Trunk Prefix: 0Slovenia received a new country code following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1991...

    : 02 (Maribor)
  • Vehicle registration plate prefix
    Vehicle registration plates of Slovenia
    Slovenian car number plates are license plates found on Slovenian cars.The license plates are made of metal. On the left there is a blue bar like in other EU countries ; the text is in black letters on a white background...

    : SG (Slovenj Gradec
    Slovenj Gradec
    Slovenj Gradec is a town and a municipality in northern Slovenia. It is part of the historic Lower Styria region, since 2005 it belongs to the NUTS-3 statistical region of Carinthia...

    )

Prominent natives and residents

  • Andrej Pečnik
    Andrej Pecnik
    Andrej Pečnik is an Slovenian football player who plays for FC Volgar-Gazprom Astrakhan.Pečnik played six times for the Slovenia national team between 2004 and 2006.He is a brother of Nejc Pečnik.-External links:...

    , football player
  • Nejc Pečnik
    Nejc Pecnik
    Nejc Pečnik is a Slovenian footballer who plays for FC Krylia Sovetov Samara on loan from C.D. Nacional and the Slovenian national team.-Club career:...

    , football player
  • Marjan Pušnik, football coach
  • Boštjan Nachbar, basketball player
  • Grega Nachbar, basketball player
  • brothers Ivo Polančič and Lovro Polančič, anti-Nazi resistance fighters
  • Anton Vogrinec, theologian

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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