| Official Name: | Knežja Vas |
| Pushpin Map: | Slovenia |
| Pushpin Label Position: | left |
| 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: | Trebnje |
| Area Total Km2: | 1.97 |
| Population As Of: | 2002 |
| Population Total: | 73 |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Ethnicities |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Religions |
| Coordinates: | 45.8991°N 14.9519°W |
| Elevation M: | 302.8 |
| Footnotes: | [1] |
Knežja Vas (in Slovenian pronounced as /ˈkneːʒja ˈʋaːs/; Slovenian: Knežja vas; German: Grafendorf[2]) is a village in the Municipality of Trebnje in eastern Slovenia. The area is part of the historical region of Lower Carniola. The municipality is now included in the Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region.[3]
The name Knežja vas literally means 'duke's village' and refers to feudal ownership of the settlement. Similar names in Slovenia with the same origin include Kneža, Knežak, and Knežina.[4] The former German name of the village, Grafendorf[2] (literally, 'count's village'), semantically corresponds to the Slovene name.
The local church is dedicated to Saint Agnes and belongs to the Parish of Dobrnič. It was first mentioned in written documents dating to 1526.[5]
In 1797 the Roman Catholic missionary, bishop, and grammarian Frederic Baraga was born in Mala Vas Castle in Mala Vas (Slovenian: Mala vas), which is now a hamlet in the northern part of Knežja Vas but was a separate settlement in the past. The 17th-century manor in which he was born houses a small museum dedicated to him.[6] His sister Antonija Höffern was also born here on 4 February 1803.[7]
On 10 or 11 April 1721 Maximillian Morautscher, a professor of physics in Laibach (now Ljubljana) and one of the founders of the Slovene Philharmonic Orchestra, was born in the same house. The building has been converted into a museum.