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Begunje na Gorenjskem

Coordinates: 46°22′34.94″N 14°12′4.34″E / 46.3763722°N 14.2012056°E / 46.3763722; 14.2012056
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Begunje na Gorenjskem
Begunje na Gorenjskem is located in Slovenia
Begunje na Gorenjskem
Begunje na Gorenjskem
Location in Slovenia
Coordinates: 46°22′34.94″N 14°12′4.34″E / 46.3763722°N 14.2012056°E / 46.3763722; 14.2012056
Country Slovenia
Traditional regionUpper Carniola
Statistical regionUpper Carniola
MunicipalityRadovljica
Area
 • Total
18.6 km2 (7.2 sq mi)
Elevation
577.6 m (1,895.0 ft)
Population
 (2012)
 • Total
1,014
[1]

Begunje na Gorenjskem (pronounced [ˈbeːɡunjɛ na ɡɔˈɾeːnskɛm]; Template:Lang-de[2]) is a village in the Municipality of Radovljica in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. It is known for being the location of the headquarters of the Elan Line company.

Name

Begunje na Gorenjskem was first attested in written sources in 1050 as Begûn (and in 1063 as Uegun). The name of the settlement is derived from the personal name *Běgunъ, probably as a clipped version of *Běgun'e (selo) 'Běgunъ's village' (i.e., a neuter singular form) that later shifted to a feminine plural form.[3] In Slovene, the settlement was originally simply called Begunje[2][4] but a modifier was later added to distinguish it from Begunje pri Cerknici. In older sources, the settlement was sometimes named Begunje pri Lescah (Template:Lang-de),[5][6] which also corresponded to the parish name.[4]

History

Stain, engraving by Johann Weikhard von Valvasor, 1689

The ruins of 12th-century Kamen (German: Stein or Stain) Castle are just outside the village in the Draga Valley. First documented in 1185, it appeared as Castrum Lapis in 1263 and Stain in 1350, when it passed into the Carniolan possessions of the Counts of Ortenburg. The castle played a vital role in protecting the comital lands in the Bohinj and Upper Sava Valley. When the Ortenburgs became extinct in 1418, it passed to Count Hermann II of Celje and was inherited by the Austrian House of Habsburg in 1456. The 15th-century Kacenštajn Castle, rebuilt in the late 17th century, stands in the centre of the village.

Mass graves

Used as women's prison in the time of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, it was seized as Upper Carniolan headquarters of the Nazi German Gestapo in World War II. 12,134 hostages were held here, 1282 inmates were killed, others were deported to Nazi concentration camps like Mauthausen. Mass graves of tortured and shot Slovenes are located in the castle park[7] and in the Draga Valley 1,6 km to the East.[8] After the war, a Yugoslav labor camp for political prisoners operated in the village.[9] A memorial and a museum dedicated to the victims were set up in part of the building, which today houses a psychiatric hospital accepting patients from all over the Upper Carniola region.

Mass graves of the victims of Nazi agression in the Draga Valley
Mass graves of the victims of Nazi agression in the Begunje castle park

Begunje na Gorenjskem is the site of six known mass graves from the period immediately after the Second World War. The Krpin Gravel Pit 1 and 2 mass graves (Template:Lang-sl) are located north of the settlement; the first is in the bushes a few meters above the paved road, between a gravel pit and a dirt road, and the second is a few dozen meters higher, on a slope to the left of the path. The graves contain the remains of at least 20 Russian Liberation Army prisoners of war and civilians that were murdered at the end of June or beginning of July 1945.[10][11] The Krpin Ski Slope 1–3 mass graves ([Grobišče smučišče Krpin 1–3] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) are located north of the settlement; the first and second are in a picnic area behind a shed, and the third is on level ground behind the ski slope. The graves contain the remains of Russian Liberation Army prisoners of war and civilians murdered at two locations in the nearby gravel pit.[12][13][14] The Mazevec Crevasse Mass Grave ([Grobišče Mazevčev pruh] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) is located north of Kamen Castle, on the edge of a quarry below a large spruce tree, and is 10 m long. It contains the remains of German prisoners of war from Begunje and probably also civilian victims murdered on 29 May 1945.[15]

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Begunje na Gorenjskem include:

References

  1. ^ Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia
  2. ^ a b Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru, vol. 6: Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146.
  3. ^ Snoj, Marko. 2009. Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen. Ljubljana: Modrijan and Založba ZRC, p. 54.
  4. ^ a b Krajevni leksikon Dravske Banovine. 1937. Ljubljana: Zveza za tujski promet za Slovenijo, p. 529.
  5. ^ Killy, Walther, et al. 2000. Deutsche biographische Enzyklopädie. Munich: K.G. Saur, p. 1056.
  6. ^ Lavrenčak, Goran. 2015. Poštni žigi v naši občini. Radovljica, p. 4.
  7. ^ Grobišče ustreljenih talcev, Partizan monuments, Geopedia
  8. ^ Grobišče talcev v Dragi, Partizanski spomeniki, Geopedia
  9. ^ Mrvič, Irena. 1999. "Taborišče." Enciklopedija Slovenije, vol. 13 (Š–T), pp. 177–179. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, p. 179.
  10. ^ Krpin Gravel Pit 1 Mass Grave on Geopedia Template:Sl icon
  11. ^ Krpin Gravel Pit 2 Mass Grave on Geopedia Template:Sl icon
  12. ^ Krpin Ski Slope 1 Mass Grave on Geopedia Template:Sl icon
  13. ^ Krpin Ski Slope 2 Mass Grave on Geopedia Template:Sl icon
  14. ^ Krpin Ski Slope 3 Mass Grave on Geopedia Template:Sl icon
  15. ^ Mazevec Crevasse Mass Grave on Geopedia Template:Sl icon
  16. ^ a b c Savnik, Roman, ed. 1968. Krajevni leksikon Slovenije, vol. 1. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, p. 277.