Slovenj Gradec - History

History

Gradec, Slovene for 'little castle', was first mentioned in a 1091 deed, then part of the Imperial March of Styria. From 1180 until 1918 it belonged to the Duchy of Styria, since 1804 a crown land of the Austrian Empire. It was the ancestral seat of the Windisch-Graetz noble family first documented in 1220. Upon the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918, with the rest of Lower Styria, it was included in the newly established Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

Between the mid-19th century and 1945, the town was a German-speaking island in a Slovene-speaking area. In a 1880 census, the town of Slovenj Gradec, or Windischgrätz (see: Wends) as it was called to distinguish it from the Styrian capital Graz, was 75 percent German-speaking and 25 percent Slovene-speaking, but among the German-speaking population there were allegedly those - like the family of the composer Hugo Wolf- of mixed ethnic origin.

After the end of World War I, many of the local German-speaking inhabitants emigrated to Austria; those that remained were gradually assimilated to or re-integrated into the Slovene-speaking majority. After World War II, all remaining ethnic Germans were expelled from Yugoslavia and Slovenj Gradec lost its traditional presence of German speakers.

Read more about this topic:  Slovenj Gradec

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    Bias, point of view, fury—are they ... so dangerous and must they be ironed out of history, the hills flattened and the contours leveled? The professors talk ... about passion and point of view in history as a Calvinist talks about sin in the bedroom.
    Catherine Drinker Bowen (1897–1973)

    The principle office of history I take to be this: to prevent virtuous actions from being forgotten, and that evil words and deeds should fear an infamous reputation with posterity.
    Tacitus (c. 55–117)

    Racism is an ism to which everyone in the world today is exposed; for or against, we must take sides. And the history of the future will differ according to the decision which we make.
    Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)