Mrtvice (;
[''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 42.] or ''Geschwend'') is a settlement northwest of the town of
Kočevje
Kočevje (; ; ''Göttscheab'' or ''Gətscheab'' in the local Gottscheerish dialect; ) is a town and the seat of Municipality of Kočevje in southern Slovenia.
Geography
The town is located at the foot of the Kočevski Rog karst plateau on t ...
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
The Slovene name ''Mrtvice'' is apparently cognate with the adjective ''mrtev'' dead, but the connection is unclear. One theory links the name with an old side channel or
oxbow lake
An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or stream pool, pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is meander cutoff, cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. The word "oxbow" can also refer to a U-shaped bend in a river or stream, whether ...
() of the
Rinža River.
[Ferenc, Mitja, & Gojko Zupan. 2012. ''Izgubljene kočevske vasi'', vol. 2 (K–P). Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani, p. 158.] Another theory connects the name with infertile soil. The German name ''Gschwend'' is believed to be derived from German ''schwenden'' 'to clear forest, especially by burning'.
[Petschauer, Erich. 1980. "Die Gottscheer Siedlungen – Ortsnamenverzeichnis." In ''Das Jahrhundertbuch der Gottscheer'' (pp. 181–197). Klagenfurt: Leustik.] The name ''Gschwend'' was provisionally used during the Second World War as a new name for a planned Gottschee German resettlement in the
Rann Triangle
Rann may refer to:
Places
*Rann (fictional planet), a fictional planet in the Polaris star system of the DC Comics Universe
*Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India
**Great Rann of Kutch, a seasonally marshy region located in the Thar Desert
**Little Rann ...
.
History
Mrtvice is a newer settlement, officially created from parts of the
Gottschee German villages of
Koblarji and
Slovenska Vas in January 1953.
Prior to this the name was primarily used as a microtoponym. Consequently, Mrtvice was not mentioned in the land registry of 1574 or in the census of 1770.
Nonetheless, mention was occasionally made of Mrtvice (as Gschwend) as a settlement, such as in a postal notice of 1899, when its postal authority was reassigned from Kočevje to Slovenska Vas. Mrtvice primarily developed as a
bedroom community
A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
for people working in Kočevje.
Notable people
Notable people that were born or lived in Mrtvice include:
* Josef Krauland (1897–1973), medical advisor
Petschauer, Erich. 1980. ''Das Jahrhundertbuch der Gottscheer''. Klagenfurt: Hermann Leustik, p. 165.
References
External links
Mrtvice on GeopediaPre–World War II map of Mrtvice with oeconyms and family names
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mrtvice
Populated places in the Municipality of Kočevje