| Official Name: | Gotenica |
| Settlement Type: | Village |
| Pushpin Map: | Slovenia |
| Pushpin Label Position: | top |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Slovenia |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Slovenia |
| Subdivision Type1: | Traditional region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Lower Carniola |
| Subdivision Type2: | Statistical region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Southeast Slovenia |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | Kočevje |
| Area Total Km2: | 23.75 |
| Population As Of: | 2012 |
| Population Total: | 2 |
| Population Density Km2: | 0 |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Ethnicities |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Religions |
| Coordinates: | 45.6118°N 14.7471°W |
| Elevation M: | 658.9 |
| Postal Code: | 1338 |
| Footnotes: | [1] |
Gotenica (in Slovenian pronounced as /ɡɔtɛˈniːtsa/; in older sources also Gotnica,[2] [3] German: Göttenitz,[4] [5] Gottscheerish: Gənize or In dr Gənizn[6]) is a settlement in the Municipality of Kočevje in southern Slovenia. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola and is now included in the Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region.[7]
Gotenica is located in a clearing surrounded by wooded plateaus and hills: the Gotenica Mountains (Goteniška gora) to the west, with nearby Gotenica Mount Snežnik (Goteniški Snežnik, 1290m (4,230feet)) as its highest peak, the Big Mountains (Velika gora) chain to the north rising to 1254m (4,114feet), and the Stojna Ridge to the east rising to 1072m (3,517feet). It is connected by road to Kočevska Reka to the south and Grčarice to the north.
Gotenica was first attested in written sources in 1363 as Goteniz (and as Gotintz and Gotnickh in 1498, and Gattenitz in 1499). The name is believed to be related to the toponym Gotenc, both based on the personal name *Goten, in turn derived from *Gotъ. Other Slovenian toponyms presumably based on this name are Gotna vas (a suburb of Novo Mesto), Gotovlje, and Goče. Other theories suggests that the name is derived from the Slovene verb gatiti 'to accumulate, pile up', referring to a place where water accumulates during flooding,[8] or from the Slovene noun kot 'closed valley, cirque'.[6] It is unlikely that the name is connected with the Goths, as some have suggested.[9]
Gotenica is among the oldest villages in the Kočevje area that was established by Slovenes.[8] It may have been established between 1315 and 1332 under Count Meinhard of Ortenburg (1280–1332).[6] Later Gotenica was also settled by Gottschee Germans. In 1574 it had 12 farms divided into 24 half-farms, corresponding to a population between 110 and 120. In 1770 there were 68 houses in the settlement.[8] A school was established in Gotenica in 1854.[10] [8] Before the Second World War, Gotenica had 108 houses and a population of 359, including 13 ethnic Slovenes.[6] The economy of the village was based on farming, forestry, transporting sawn lumber, and beekeeping. Gotenica had a steam-powered sawmill, an inn, and a store.[10] The German residents of Gotenica were evicted in December 1941.[5] After the Second World War, in 1948 the village had a population of 138.[8] In 1949 it was selected for the construction of an underground bunker system for Slovenia's military and political leaders. It was made part of a military exclusion zone and the remaining population was evicted. The village was sealed off until 1990 and it had no permanent residents during this time.[5]
Gotenica had two churches, a chapel, and a cemetery, all registered as cultural heritage today, that were destroyed by Slovenia's communist government after the Second World War.