Predmeja (; formerly ''Dol pri Otlici'') is a settlement in the

Municipality of Ajdovščina The Municipality of Ajdovščina (; sl, Občina Ajdovščina) is a municipality with a population of a little over 19,000 located in the Vipava Valley, southwestern Slovenia. The municipality was established in 1994. Its seat is in the town of Aj ...

in the

Littoral The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal a ...

region of

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 ...

. It lies on the edge of a karst

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

north of the town of

Ajdovščina Ajdovščina (; it, Aidussina,trilingual name "Haidenschaft, Aidussina, Ajdovščina" inGemeindelexikon, der im Reichsrate Vertretenen Königreiche und Länder. Bearbeit auf Grund der Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1900. Herausgege ...

, overlooking the

Vipava Valley The Vipava Valley (; sl, Vipavska dolina, german: Wippachtal, it, Valle del Vipacco) is a valley in the Slovenian Littoral, roughly between the village of Podnanos to the east and the border with Italy to the west. The main towns are Ajdovš ...

. Together with the ridge-top villages of Otlica, Kovk, and Gozd, it is part of an area locally known as Gora (literally, 'the mountain').

History

In the 19th century, the engineer

Josef Ressel Joseph Ludwig Franz Ressel ( cs, Josef Ludvík František Ressel; June 29, 1793 – October 9, 1857) was a forester and inventor of Czech-Austrian descent, who designed one of the first working ship's propellers. Ressel was born in Chrudim, B ...

(1793–1857) prepared a plan for reforesting the slopes of the Čaven Plateau above Predmeja; a plaque commemorating his efforts was unveiled in 1957. Ressel also laid out the road from Predmeja to Strigarija Hill. The less demanding road to Predmeja via the Platna slope was built between 1893 and 1896. Before the Second World War, ice was harvested at the Big Paradana Ice Cave ( sl, Velika ledena jama v Paradani) and sold in Trieste. After the war, the ice continued to be sold in Ajdovščina for some time. During the Second World War, there were clashes between the Partisans and German forces in the Predmeja area; particularly fierce engagements took place in late September 1943, February and October 1944, and March 1945. During the war, German forces burned 90 houses in Predmeja and killed 77 people.

Mass graves

Predmeja is the site of four known

mass graves A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may Unidentified decedent, not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of executi ...

associated with the Second World War. The Rob Shaft Mass Grave ( sl, Grobišče Brezno za Robom) is located on the

Trnovo Forest Plateau The Trnovo Forest Plateau ( sl, Trnovski gozd) is a karst plateau that constitutes the extreme northwest end of the Dinaric Alps.Perko, Drago, & Milan Orožen Adamič. 1998. ''Slovenija: pokrajine in ljudje''. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, p. 324. ...

( sl, Trnovski gozd), east of Predmeja. It contains the remains of German soldiers and unidentified civilians. The Medvedovše Shaft Mass Grave () is located on the Trnovo Forest Plateau, about northeast of Predmeja. It contains the remains of unidentified victims. The Medvedovše Grave () is located on the Trnovo Forest Plateau, at a small level spot on the slope left of the road branching off to the north at the Medvedovše farm (Predmeja no. 83). It contains the remains of a Partisan soldier murdered by other Partisans during the war. The Bratin Shaft Mass Grave () is located on the edge of the Trnovo Forest Plateau, east of Predmeja, and the top of a headwall above the cliff over the Lokavšček Springs. The entrance is on a cliff shelf. The grave contains the remains of seven Partisans killed by Italian troops.

2016 aircraft crash

The German millionaire Thomas Wagner from Holding GmbH, Germany died at age 38 in an airplane accident in this area on July 14, 2016. Wagner was a German internet star that founded Unister in 2002 in the eastern German city of Leipzig. This large online company has employed as many as 2,100 employees and operates 60 European travel websites (e.g., ab-in-den-urlaub.de in Germany and fly24.co.uk in UK).Ex-Unister-Sprecher Korosides glaubt nicht an Unfall. 2016. ''Leipziger Volkszeitung'' (July 14).
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References

External links

*
Predmeja at Geopedia
{{Authority control Populated places in the Municipality of Ajdovščina