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'', ,''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. , ) is an Upper German dialect which was the main language of c ...

: ''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 human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the

Municipality of Ribnica The Municipality of 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 Slovenia Statistical Region ...

in southern

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. The area is part of the traditional region of

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region in Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south an ...

and is now included in the

Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region The Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region () 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 auto industry, pharmaceuticals, and other light ...

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; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...

forces and the

Partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

Šercer Brigade (). 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 Solanaceae (), commonly known as the nightshades, is a family of flowering plants in the order Solanales. It contains approximately 2,700 species, several of which are used as agricultural crops, medicinal plants, and ornamental plants. Many me ...

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) () were brothers who suffered martyrdom about the year 304 during the Diocletian persecution. The ''Martyrologium Hieronymianum'' gives under June 9 the names of ''Primus and Felician'' who were buried at the ...

. 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, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

.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

*
Grčarice on GeopediaPre–World War II map of Grčarice with oeconyms and family names
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grcarice Populated places in the Municipality of Ribnica