Brezovica pri Predgradu (; german: Bresowitz''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 4.Ferenc, Mitja. 2007. ''Nekdanji nemški jezikovni otok na kočevskem''. Kočevje: Pokrajinski muzej, p. 4.) is a small settlement in the

Municipality of Kočevje The Municipality of Kočevje (; sl, Občina Kočevje) is a municipality in southern Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the city of Kočevje. Today it is part of the Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region. In terms of area, it is the larg ...

in southern

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. The area is part of the traditional region of

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( sl, Dolenjska; german: Unterkrain) is a traditional region in Slovenia, the southeastern part of the historical Carniola region. Geography Lower Carniola is delineated by the Ljubljana Basin with the city of Ljubljana to the no ...

and is now included in the

Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region The Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region ( sl, Jugovzhodna Slovenija statistična regija) 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 au ...

Geography

Brezovica pri Predgradu is located on the upper rim of the Poljane Valley ( sl, Poljanska dolina) along the road from

Kočevje Kočevje (; german: Gottschee; ''Göttscheab'' or ''Gətscheab'' in the local Gottscheerish dialect; it, Cocevie) is a city in the Municipality of Kočevje in southern Slovenia. It is the seat of the municipality. Geography The town is loc ...

Črnomelj Črnomelj (; in older sources also ''Černomelj'', german: Tschernembl''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 4.) is a town in southeastern S ...

. It includes the hamlet of Zaderc (german: Saderz) half a kilometer south of the main settlement. There are several springs and caves in the area. Brezovica Spring () is below Straža Hill, and Klinlehl Cave stands above it. West of this is Miner's Cave (), from which a spring feeds the creek in the Vimolj Gully (). Miner's Cave was a source of coal before the Second World War. The Vidmar Spring () flows into the Vimolj Gully between Brezovica and the hamlet of Videm in

Knežja Lipa Knežja Lipa (; german: Graflinden,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 36, 41.Ferenc, Mitja. 2007. ''Nekdanji nemški jezikovni otok na ...

. The Zaderc Spring () is located 1 km southwest of Zaderc.

Name

The name ''Brezovica pri Predgradu'' means 'Brezovica near

Predgrad Predgrad (; german: Vornschloß''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 8. or ''Pölland'') is a settlement in the Municipality of Kočevje in ...

'. The name ''Brezovica'' and names like it are relatively common in Slovenia and in other Slavic countries (e.g., Březovice in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, Brezovica in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

, etc.). The name ''Brezovica'' is derived from the word ''breza'' '

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

'. Like similar toponyms in Slovenia (e.g., '' Brezova, Brezovec, Brezovci''), it originally referred to the local vegetation. The German name ''Bresowitz'' is derived from the Slovene name. The name of the settlement was changed from ''Brezovica'' to ''Brezovica pri Predgradu'' in 1953.''Spremembe naselij 1948–95''. 1996. Database. Ljubljana: Geografski inštitut ZRC SAZU, DZS.

History

Brezovica pri Predgradu was a mixed Slovene and Gottschee German village. During the feudal era it belonged to the Dominion of Poljane and in 1576 it had four full farms. It was an enterprising village, with two shops and an inn before the Second World War. The Gottschee Germans were evicted in the fall of 1941. Italian troops burned all but three houses in the village on 15 September 1942. After the

armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...

, the Partisans built a bunker in the forest east of the village to store weapons and food. The bunker was discovered by German and

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting wi ...

forces in the fall of 1943 and blown up. Out of 13 houses in the village from before the war, only three were left after the war: two farmhouses and one lived in by a forestry worker and his family.

References

External links

Brezovica pri Predgradu on GeopediaPre–World War II map of Brezovica pri Predgradu with oeconyms and family names
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brezovica Pri Predgradu Populated places in the Municipality of Kočevje