Slovenj Gradec

Infobox Settlement
name = Slovenj Gradec
official_name =Slovenj Gradec
native_name =
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settlement_type = Town
total_type =
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imagesize = 360px
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shield_size =60px
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map_caption = Location of the Municipality of Slovenj Gradec in Slovenia


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pushpin_label_position = left
pushpin_map_caption =Location of the city of Slovenj Gradec in Slovenia
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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Slovenia
subdivision_type1 = Region
subdivision_name1 = Koroška
subdivision_type2 = Municipality
subdivision_name2 = Slovenj Gradec
subdivision_type3 =
subdivision_name3 =
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leader_title =Mayor
leader_name =Matjaž Zanoškar
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unit_pref =Imperial
area_footnotes =
area_total_km2 =173.7
area_land_km2 =
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population_as_of =2002
population_footnotes =
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population_total =12,779
population_density_km2 =
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population_blank1_title =males
population_blank1 =6,273
population_blank2_title =female
population_blank2 =6,506
population_density_blank1_km2 =
population_density_blank1_sq_mi =
timezone =
utc_offset =
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coor_type =
latd=46 |latm=31 |lats= |latNS=N
longd=15 |longm=05 |longs= |longEW=E
postal_code_type =Postal code
postal_code =2380
area_code =
blank_name =Average age
blank_info =40.85 years
blank1_name =Residential areas
blank1_info =convert|30.73|m2|sqft|abbr=on/person
blank2_name =Households
blank2_info =5,644
blank3_name =Families
blank3_info =4,791
website = [http://www.slovenj-gradec.si/ Official site]
footnotes = Source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, census of 2002.

Slovenj Gradec (German:"Windischgraz" or, older, "Windischgrätz") is a town and a municipality formerly in the Slovene Styria region, now in the recently enlarged Koroška statistical region of northern Slovenia. The town is located around 45 km west of Maribor and 65 km northeast of Ljubljana.

Historically, Slovenj Gradec was part of the Duchy of Styria within the Austrian Empire until 1918, when, together with Lower Styria, it was ceded to the new Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

Between the mid 19th century and 1945, the town was a German-speaking island in a Slovene-speaking area. In the 1880 census, town of Slovenj Gradec, or Windischgrätz, as it was called, was 75 percent German-speaking and 25 percent Slovene-speaking [Meyers Konversationslexikon, 5th ed., Leipzig-Vienna 1897, vol. XVII, p. 794] , but among the German speaking population a considerable proportion were allegedly - like the family of the famous composer Hugo Wolf - of ethnic Slovene origin. After the end of the World War I, many of the local German speaking inhabitants moved to Austria; those that remained were gradually assimilated to or re-integrated into the Slovene-speaking majority. After World War II, all remaining ethnic Germans were expelled from Yugoslavia, thus Slovenj Gradec lost its traditional presence of German speakers.

The great German and Austrian noble family of the Princes of Windisch-Graetz, first mentioned in 1220, [ Der Große Brockhaus, Leipzig 1935, vol. XX, p.359] had their original home in a castle nearby [ibid.] and took their name from the town's German name which translates as "little Slovene castle".
In 1860, the composer Hugo Wolf was born in Windischgrätz/Slovenj Gradec. His birthplace is now a music school. Other important structures near his birthplace include the parish church in the main square, which is a Gothic chapel with frescos from the middle of the 15th century. In 2003, an acheological excavation uncovered the remains of the oldest church in all of Styria, which originates from the Carolingian period.

Towns and villages

Brda, Gmajna, Golavabuka, Gradišče, Graška Gora, Legen, Mislinjska Dobrava, Pameče, Podgorje, Raduše, Sele, Slovenj Gradec, Spodnji Razbor, Stari trg, Šmartno pri Slovenj Gradcu, Šmiklavž, Tomaška vas, Troblje, Turiška vas, Vodriž, Vrhe, Zgornji Razbor

Notes and References

*The information in this article is based on and translated from that found in its German equivalent.

External links

* [http://www.slovenj-gradec.si/ Official website] (Slovenian)
* [http://www.ngw.nl/int/slv/slovgrad.htm Town Heraldry]
* [http://www.bajta.si Bajta.si] Koroška region news and entertainment website (in Slovene)