Official Name: | Mrtvice |
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: | 10.19 |
Population As Of: | 2002 |
Population Total: | 40 |
Population Blank1 Title: | Ethnicities |
Population Blank2 Title: | Religions |
Coordinates: | 45.6591°N 14.8106°W |
Elevation M: | 892.3 |
Postal Code: | 1332 |
Footnotes: | [1] |
Mrtvice (in Slovenian pronounced as /məɾˈtʋiːtsɛ/; German: Gschwend[2] or Geschwend[3]) is a settlement northwest of the town 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.[4]
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 (Slovenian: mrtvica) of the Rinža River.[5] Another theory connects the name with infertile soil.[6] The German name Gschwend is believed to be derived from German schwenden 'to clear forest, especially by burning'.[7] [8] [9] 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.[10]
Mrtvice is a newer settlement, officially created from parts of the Gottschee German villages of Koblarji and Slovenska Vas[11] in January 1953.[5] Prior to this the name was primarily used as a microtoponym.[12] Consequently, Mrtvice was not mentioned in the land registry of 1574 or in the census of 1770.[9] 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.[13] Mrtvice primarily developed as a bedroom community for people working in Kočevje.[5]
Notable people that were born or lived in Mrtvice include: