Grčarice (; locally also ''Grčav(i)ce'',Snoj, Marko. 2009. ''Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen''. Ljubljana: Modrijan and Založba ZRC, p. 152. in older sources also ''Gerčarice'', german: Masern,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 48.

Gottscheerish Gottscheerish (''Göttscheabarisch'',Maridi Tscherne: Wörterbuch Gottscheerisch-Slowenisch. Einrichtung für die Erhaltung des Kulturerbes Nesseltal, Koprivnik/Nesseltal 2010. german: Gottscheerisch, sl, kočevarščina) is an Upper German ...

: ''Masharə''Petschauer, Erich. 1980. "Die Gottscheer Siedlungen – Ortsnamenverzeichnis." In ''Das Jahrhundertbuch der Gottscheer'' (pp. 181–197). Klagenfurt: Leustik.) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in the

Municipality of Ribnica The Municipality of Ribnica (; sl, Občina Ribnica) is a municipality in southern Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Ribnica. It is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola and is now included in the Southeast Sloveni ...

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 ...

Name

Grčarice was first attested in written sources in 1498 as ''Masern''. The German name ''Masern'' is derived from the

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

root ''maser'' 'knotty growth on a tree'. This semantically corresponds to the Slovene root ''grča'' 'knot', which may be the basis of the Slovene name ''Grčarice''.Snoj, Marko. 2009. ''Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen''. Ljubljana: Modrijan and Založba ZRC, p. 152. Other theories of the origin of the Slovene name are that it is based on the surname ''Grčar'', in turn derived from the Slovene common noun ''grča'' (in the sense of 'clod, clump', among many other meanings), or that it is derived from ''grnčar'' 'potter', implying that the village was settled by potters.

History

Grčarice was a Gottschee German village. In the land registry of 1574 it had six full farms divided into 12 half-farms, corresponding to a population between 50 and 60. The village of Brunn bei Masern, also attested in 1574, may have been absorbed into Grčarice soon thereafter or may have become the nearby village of Mrzli Potok. Countess Elizabeth von Blagay granted additional territory to Grčarice for settlement in 1613 because of overpopulation. In the 1770 census there were 28 houses in the village. On 24 July 1882 a major fire started in Johann Sbačnik's (= ''Sbaschnig, Zbačnik'') threshing room at Grčarice no. 28. The fire spread and burned down 15 houses and 41 outbuildings in the village, but no livestock were lost and there were no human fatalities. The village church was also damaged in the fire. A school was established in Grčarice in 1883, when a businessman named Stampfl purchased a house and donated it for this purpose. The school operated until 1941. Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Grčarice had 61 houses and a population of 256. During this time the local economy was based on agriculture, timber transport, peddling, and the local steam-powered sawmill. Beekeeping was also practiced in the village. There was a store in the village and an inn that offered overnight accommodation.''Krajevni leksikon Dravske Banovine''. 1937. Ljubljana: Zveza za tujski promet za Slovenijo, p. 212. The original inhabitants were evicted in the fall of 1941. From 8 to 10 September 1943 there was a battle at Grčarice between Slovenian

Chetnik The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationa ...

forces and the

Partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...

Šercer Brigade ( sl, 2. slovenska narodnoosvobodilna udarna brigada »Ljubo Šercer«). After

, settlers moved to the village from Glažuta and Loški Potok. Agriculture was largely abandoned in the village, with only some small-scale potato cultivation and raising of cattle and pigs. Most of the population lived as forestry workers involved in cutting and transporting timber, or commuted to work in Ribnica or Prigorica. Some of them gathered

nightshade The Solanaceae , or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and orna ...

and linden blossoms for the local angling club. Two beekeepers were active in the village after the war.Savnik, Roman, ed. 1971. ''Krajevni leksikon Slovenije'', vol. 2. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, p. 562.

Church

*The church in Grčarice was dedicated to Saints

Primus and Felician Saints Primus and Felician (Felicianus) ( it, Primo e Feliciano) were brothers who suffered martyrdom about the year 297 during the Diocletian persecution. The ''"Martyrologium Hieronymianum"'' (ed. G. B. de Rossi- L. Duchesne, 77) gives under Ju ...

. It originally belonged to the proto-parish of Ribnica, obtained an independent prebendary in 1767, and became a parish in its own right in 1878. A bell tower was added to the church in 1845. The building was damaged in 1943 and its ruins were removed in 1949.

Other cultural heritage

*The cemetery in Grčarice was established in 1838 and served the villages of Grčarice, Grčarske Ravne, Jelendol, and Glažuta. It stands south of the settlement and formerly contained a large number of Gottschee German tombstones. In 1966 all of the German tombstones were removed from the

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number ešd 14974 The cemetery contains three

graves where 20 unknown Partisan soldiers are buried. *There is a plaque on the management building of the collective farm and forestry company (at Grčarice 24) commemorating the events of the Second World War. The plaque was unveiled in 1963.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number ešd 22471 There is also a plaque on the local arts center with the names of Partisan soldiers killed in the war.

References

External links

* ttp://www.gottscheerland.at/ortsplaene/Masern.pdf Pre–World War II map of Grčarice with oeconyms and family names {{DEFAULTSORT:Grcarice Populated places in the Municipality of Ribnica