Koblarji

Koblarji (pronounced [ˈkoːblaɾji]; in older sources also Kovlerji,[2][3] German: Koflern,[3][4] Gottscheerish: Kowlarn, in de Kowlara[5]) is a settlement northwest of Kočevje in southern Slovenia. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola and is now included in the Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region.[6] Koblarji Cave (Slovene: Koblarska jama, Dolga jama, Velika jama pri Koblarjih, German: Weites Loch bei Koflern, Kofler Grotte)[7][8][9] is located in the settlement.[10]

Koblarji
Koblarji
Location in Slovenia
Coordinates: 45°40′46.69″N 14°49′54.09″E
Country Slovenia
Traditional regionLower Carniola
Statistical regionSoutheast Slovenia
MunicipalityKočevje
Area
 • Total11.63 km2 (4.49 sq mi)
Elevation
469.2 m (1,539.4 ft)
Population
 (2002)
 • Total257
[1]

Name

Koblarji was first attested in written sources under its German name, as Koflern or Koflein. The Slovene name is derived from the German name. The German name is derived from Middle High German kofeler 'hill dweller', from Middle High German kofel 'wooded hill'.[5][11][12] An alternative but less likely theory derives the name from Middle High German kobeler 'hut dweller'.[12]

History

Koblarji was a Gottschee German village. In the land registry of 1574 the settlement had eight full farms divided into 16 half-farms with 16 owners, corresponding to a population between 58 and 65. In the 1770 census the village had 39 houses.[5] The population of Koblarji steadily declined from 1869, with 255 people in 44 houses, to only 196 people in 1931,[13]:28 largely due to emigration.[8] At the time, the village economy was based on raising crops and animals, forestry, and peddling.[8] There were two inns in the village, run by the Perz and Erker families or, according to some sources, Vode and Barthol.[13]:28 The ethnic German residents, numbering 150, were evicted during the Second World War.[13]:28 Unlike many Gottschee settlements, the village was not burned during the war.[14] After the war, 41 of the village's houses were habitable and the settlement had a population of 114.[13]:28 By 2011, the population had grown to 292.[13]:29

Church

The local church, dedicated to Saint Stephen and Saint Anthony of Padua, was a 16th-century building that survived the Second World War more or less intact, but was demolished in 1956.[15] The church likely originally had a bell-gable. A sacristy was probably added to the southern side of the church in 1788, and a large bell tower was added in 1817. Two bells cast in 1835 and 1848 hung in the bell tower but were removed during the First World War. They were replaced by iron bells cast in 1921, but these were removed during the Second World War. A small chapel dedicated to Saint Stephen was built at the site of the former church in 2004.[13]:30–31

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Koblarji include:

  • Lojze Čampa (1935–2000), forestry expert and ecologist[13]:30
  • Josefine Samide (1870–1968), educator and school director in Klagenfurt[13]:31

References
  1. Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia
  2. Intelligenzblatt zur Laibacher Zeitung, no. 141. 24 November 1849, p. 26.
  3. Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru, vol. 6: Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 42.
  4. Ferenc, Mitja. 2007. Nekdanji nemški jezikovni otok na kočevskem. Kočevje: Pokrajinski muzej, p. 4.
  5. Petschauer, Erich. 1980. "Die Gottscheer Siedlungen – Ortsnamenverzeichnis." In Das Jahrhundertbuch der Gottscheer (pp. 181–197). Klagenfurt: Leustik.
  6. Kočevje municipal site
  7. Moser, L. Karl. 1897. "Bericht über die Ausgrabungen in der Höhle "Ziřca jama", recte "Zirkovec", deutsch: Maishöle, dann über die Funde aus dem Fuchsloche und dem weiten Loche nächst Koflern bei Gottschee." Mittheilungen der K.K. Central-Commission zur Erforschung und Erhaltung der Kunst- und Historischen Denkmale 23: 7–11, p. 10.
  8. Krajevni leksikon Dravske Banovine. 1937. Ljubljana: Zveza za tujski promet za Slovenijo, p. 215.
  9. Koblarji (in Slovene)
  10. Koblarji Cave on Geopedia
  11. Simonič, Ivan. 1935. "Kočevarji v luči krajevnih in ledinskih imen." Glasnik Muzejskega društva za Slovenijo 16: 61–81 and 106–123, p. 64.
  12. Snoj, Marko. 2009. Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen. Ljubljana: Modrijan and Založba ZRC, p. 192.
  13. Ferenc, Mitja, & Gojko Zupan. 2012. Izgubljene kočevske vasi, vol. 2 (K–P). Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani.
  14. Savnik, Roman, ed. 1971. Krajevni leksikon Slovenije, vol. 2. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, p. 224.
  15. Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage reference number ešd 2301
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