Rogaška Slatina (; german: Rohitsch-Sauerbrunn''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 4: ''Štajersko''. 1904. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 248.) is a town in eastern

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 is the largest settlement and the seat of the Municipality of Rogaška Slatina. It is known for its curative

mineral water Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water may usually be still or sparkling (carbonated/effervescent) according to the presence or absence of added gases. Tra ...

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneo ...

, and crystal glass.

Name

The name ''Rogaška Slatina'' literally means ' Rogatec springs', referring to a source of mineral water. The springs were dubbed ''Roitschocrene'' 'Rogatec springs' (< Greek κρήνη ''crene'' 'spring') in 1687 by Johann Benedikt Gründel. The settlement was known as ''Rohitsch-Sauerbrunn'' or ''Sauerbrunn Curort'' in German (and in older sources also ''Roitscher Sauerbrunn''). Older sources also contain the Slovene names ''Slatina Zdravišče'' and ''Slatina Rogačka''.

History

The Rogaška Slatina area was inhabited in antiquity, and a Roman road led to the settlement. A document from the Archbishopric of Salzburg dating from 1141 mentions a Roman stone next to a spring in the settlement. The 16th-century alchemist Leonhard Thurneysser was the first to describe the spring. The spring was also described by the imperial physician Paul de Sorbait in 1679, by the Carniolan physician Marko Gerbec circa 1700, and by Joseph Karl Kindermann in his 1798 history of Styria (''Repertorium der steiermärkischen Geschichte, Geographie, Topographie, Statistik und Naturhistorie''). The historian Rudolf Gustav Puff described Rogaška Slatina in a special publication, and 24 lithographs of the town were created by the artist Josip Reiterer in the early 19th century. The chemist Adolf Režek set up a small chemistry laboratory in Rogaška Slatina in 1931 and published various material about the town.

World War II

Between 1941 and 1945 Rogaška Slatina was occupied by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. The Wehrmacht's 132nd infantry division entered into health-spa resort on April 11, 1941, only five days after

invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was ...

. In the following weeks, the occupier's complex administration was set up, who transformed Rogaška Slatina because of its health and glassmaking importance, large accommodation capacity and position along the German-Croatian state border on the Sotla River into one of the key outposts of the Lower Styrian occupation zone. Daniel Siter in his thesis Rogaška Slatina during the period of German occupation (1941-1945) mentions the Croatian Nazi-collaborationists Ustashe (slov. Ustaši) 41 times, their presence during that time as well as their ravaging in the area well after WW2.

Mass graves

Rogaška Slatina is the site of two known

mass graves A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may 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 execution, although an exact ...

from the period immediately after the Second World War. The Sovinec Ravine Mass Grave ( sl, Sovinčev graben) is located in the southeast part of the town, in a ravine above the railroad tracks. It contains the remains of 18 to 20 Croatians that were captured and then killed at the site in May and June 1945. The Flower Hill Mass Grave () lies east of the town and is believed to occupy the entire ravine below the former Triglav Hotel. It contains the remains of an unknown number of victims murdered after the war and/or victims murdered by the Nazis during the war.

Spa

Rogaška Slatina is a synonym for health-resort tourism in Slovenia. For centuries the curative mineral water rich in

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ...

(branded as Donat Mg), the picturesque countryside, and other local attractions have attracted visitors to the area.

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

s referring to the spa waters have been found. A wooden fence was built around the spring in the 17th century, and the water flowed through a wooden trough. The castle lord Peter de Curti built an inn at the site in 1676 and charged people to visit the springs. At that time the water was also bottled in bottles produced by a nearby glass works.

Churches

The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities ...

in the town is dedicated to the Holy Cross and belongs to the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje The Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje ( la, Dioecesis Celeiensis; sl, Škofija Celje) is a diocese located in the city of Celje in the Ecclesiastical province of Maribor in Slovenia. History * April 7, 2006: Established as Diocese of Celje from t ...

. The current structure at the site was built between 1864 and 1866 in a

Neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style. The earliest mention of a church at the site is in a manuscript from 1304, although the church predated that time. That building was Romanesque, and it was razed in 1863 to make way for today's church. Another church, next to the village of Prnek, is dedicated to the

Holy Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the ...

. It also belongs to the

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of Rogaška Slatina. It was built in the 17th century and contains a gold-plated altar dating to between 1650 and 1675. The rest of the internal furnishings are from the 18th and 19th centuries.Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number 3081

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Rogaška Slatina include: * Hilarij Froelich (1811–1878), medical writer * Franjo Kolterer (1888–1964), medical writer * Avgust Lavrenčič (1925–1996), painter and scenographer * Ela Peroci (1922–2001), children's writer * Miloš Verk (1890–1952), cartographer

References

External links

Rogaška Slatina, the official travel guide to Slovenia

* ttp://www.rogaska-slatina.si Rogaška Slatina municipal site {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogaska Slatina Populated places in the Municipality of Rogaška Slatina Spa towns in Slovenia Cities and towns in Styria (Slovenia)