Trnje (; ) is a former settlement in the

Municipality of Brežice The Municipality of Brežice (; ) is a municipality in eastern Slovenia in the Lower Sava Valley along the border with Croatia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Brežice. The area was traditionally divided between Lower Styria (territo ...

in eastern

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 ...

, close to the border with

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. It is now part of the town of

Brežice Brežice (; ) is a town in eastern Slovenia in the Lower Sava Valley, near the Croatian border. It is the seat of the Municipality of Brežice. It lies in the center of the Brežice Plain (), which is part of the larger Krka Flat (). The area w ...

. The area is part of the traditional region of

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

. It is now included with the rest of the municipality in the

Lower Sava Statistical Region The Lower Sava Statistical Region (; until December 31, 2014 ) is a Statistical regions of Slovenia, statistical region in Slovenia. It has good traffic accessibility and is located in the Sava and Krka Valleys, with hilly areas with vineyards and ...

Geography

Trnje is a settlement between the roads from Brežice to

Bizeljsko Bizeljsko (; ) is a settlement in the Municipality of Brežice in eastern Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia. It lies on the right bank of the Sotla River and in terms of its territory is the largest settlement in the Municipality of Bre� ...

and

Dobova Dobova () is a settlement in the Municipality of Brežice in eastern Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia. The railway line from Ljubljana to Zagreb runs through the settlement and the station is an international railway border crossing. The ...

. It borders Brežice to the west, to the east it is bordered by Gabrnica Creek, and to the south it extends to the

Sava River The Sava, is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reaches Serbia, fee ...

. The soil is gravelly, and there are fertile fields south of the village, which are subject to flooding when the Sava rises.

Name

Like similar toponyms in Slovenia (e.g., ''

Trnava Trnava (, , ; , also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of the Trnava Region and the Trnava District. It is the seat o ...

'', '' Trnovec'', and '' Trnovo''), the name ''Trnje'' is derived from the common noun ''trn'' 'thorn', referring to the local vegetation.

History

In the first half of the 18th century, the owners of

Brežice Castle Brežice Castle (, ) is a 16th-century castle in the town of Brežice, in southeastern Slovenia, at the street address ''Cesta prvih borcev 1''. As with the town, the castle's name derives from the diminutive plural of the Slovene word ''breg'', ...

set up a dairy in Trnje for cheese production. In the 20th century, a statue of

Saint Wendelin Saint Wendelin of Trier (; 554 - 617 AD) was a hermit and abbot. His cultus is wide-spread in German-speaking areas. He is a patron of country folk and herdsmen. He is honored on October 22. Life Because no information about him was availabl ...

, the patron saint of herdsmen, still stood at the site. The village is the gravesite of 3,500 Prussian prisoners of war, part of the army commanded by General

Friedrich August von Finck Friedrich August von Finck (1718 – February 24, 1766) was a Prussian general and writer. Biography Finck was born in Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He first saw active service in 1734 on the Rhine, as a member of the suite of Anton Ulrich, Duke of Brunsw ...

. The soldiers died in 1759 due to disease caused by the warm, wet climate. During the Second World War, the German authorities evicted the population of Trnje in the fall of 1941 to resettle Gottschee Germans in the village. Trnje had a population of 71 living in 13 houses in 1869, and 90 living in 17 houses in 1900. Trnje was annexed by Brežice in 1981, ending its existence as an independent settlement.

References

External links

Trnje on Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Brežice Former settlements in Slovenia {{Brežice-geo-stub