Bohinj

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bohinj
Bohinj coat of arms
Bohinj (Slovenia)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg
Basic data
Country SloveniaSlovenia Slovenia
Historic region Upper Carniola / Gorenjska
Statistical region Gorenjska (Upper Carniola)
Coordinates 46 ° 16 '  N , 13 ° 57'  E Coordinates: 46 ° 16 '16 "  N , 13 ° 57' 7"  E
surface 333.7  km²
Residents 5,335 (2008)
Population density 16 inhabitants per km²
Post Code 4265
License Plate KR
Structure and administration
Mayor : Franc Kramar ( SAB )
Website

Bohinj ( German : Wochein ) is a valley and congruent municipality in the Julian Alps in Upper Carniola , Slovenia .

geography

Geographical location

Bohinj is a wide valley bordered by the rugged slopes of the Julian Alps. In the valley lies Lake Bohinj (Bohinj).

Wocheiner lake

In a broader sense, Bohinj includes the entire south-eastern part of the Julian Alps , the mountains of which were used as pastureland by the residents of Wochein. The economic area of ​​Wochein also includes the extensive mountainous region around the peaks of the Untere Wocheiner Mountains, as well as the Komna plateau and the valley of the Triglav lakes (Dolina Triglavskih jezer) with the lake mountains in the west, in the north the Hribarice mountain range under the Triglav , the Fužina plateau and much of the Pokljuka plateau. In the south a saddle leads over Sorica (Zarz) to Škofja Loka (Bischofslack).

Community structure

The largest village in the Bohinj municipality is Bohinjska Bistrica. The districts of Bohinj are (in alphabetical order):

  • Bitnje (German: Wittnach)
  • Bohinjska Bistrica (German: Wochein Feistritz)
  • Bohinjska Češnjica (German: Kerschdorf)
  • Brod (German: Fürten)
  • Gorjuše (German: Goriusch)
  • Jereka (German: Frauenberg)
  • Kamnje (German: Steinfeld)
  • Koprivnik (German: Kopriunig)
  • Laški Rovt (German: Wälsch Gereuth)
  • Lepence (German: Lepenz)
  • Log (dt .: lots)
  • Nemški Rovt (German: German Gereuth)
  • Nomenj (German: Neming)
  • Podjelje (German: Podjel)
  • Polje (German: field)
  • Ravne (German: whisper)
  • Ribčev Laz (German: Fischgereuth)
  • Savica (German: Sawitz)
  • Sredna vas v Bohinju (German: Mitterdorf)
  • Stara Fužina (German: old hammer)
  • Studor v Bohinju (German: Studorf)
  • Ukanc (German: Ukanz)
  • Žlan (German: Schlan)

One of the partner communities of Bohinj is Ramsau near Berchtesgaden .

economy

The Wocheinertal is characterized by its remoteness from agriculture. The spectacular Wocheinerbahn ( 1906 ) turned out to be an economic flop, but it gave the valley a tourist boost. This offers excellent conditions due to the scenic beauty, the proximity to Triglav and the diverse possibilities for sporting activities such as alpine skiing , cross-country skiing world cup competitions on the Pokljuka and all imaginable mountain sports.

The Serviced was developed in Bohinj like nowhere else in Slovenia. During the period of self-sufficiency agriculture, up to the Second World War, grain and winter fodder were grown in the valley fields. On the Uskovnica mountain pasture, which was one of the larger shepherds' settlements, most of the mountain huts and stables were burned down by the German occupation forces in 1944. However, the residents of Bohinj rebuilt it after the war. There is a memorial plaque for the victims of this event next to the dairy building. After the Second World War, the alpine farm was partly given up. The mountain dairies lost their importance as cheese production in the valley was modernized and concentrated in the cheese factory in Srednja vas.

In spring, the cattle are grazed not far from the village, then they are driven to the lower, and in midsummer to the higher alpine pastures, which are sometimes on plateaus and in mountain cirques above the tree line. On the slopes above the villages are the so-called rovte (reeds) - extensive meadows that are mowed in autumn and on which the cattle sometimes graze. There are haystacks scattered over the pastures to store the hay that was brought down into the valley on steep roads, sometimes by sledge in winter. Since a large part of the Wocheiner Meadows is on steep and uneven terrain, where no mowing machines and other large agricultural implements can be used, many have been abandoned. In recent years, several village communities have grazed their cattle collectively on the alpine pastures with extensive pastures. Young or Galt cattle graze on Konjsčica, and dairy cattle on Javroniki. Often the growth of the forest penetrates the pastures.

Church of the Assumption in Bitnje
The east end of the Wocheiner See with the church sv. Janez (Ribčev Laz)

history

The archaeological finds from this area show that Wochein was already in the last decades of the 7th century BC. Was settled. In the vicinity of Ajdovski gradec, a hill near Bohinjska Bistrica, nine buildings from the Old Iron Age were discovered, which W. Schmid regards as dwellings, forges and smelters. In the 1st century BC As part of the Kingdom of Noricum , Bohinj was already connected to the iron trade network. In Ajdovski gradec remains of a fortification (Fliehburg) and a smelter from the Roman late antiquity were discovered. The Slavs settled here in the 7th and 8th centuries (tombs in Srednja vas, Zlan and Bohinjska Bistrica).

The first mention of Bohinj comes from the year 1070. During this time the inhabitants of Bohinj gradually lost their freedom and became dependent on medieval landlords.

In the 13th century, the proximity to the Freising possessions in Škofja Loka (Bischoflack) brought the valley German influence, which was reflected in the dialect , but could not prevail. An exception was the place Nemški Rovt (German Gereuth, located above Bohinjska Bistrica in the direction of the former German language island Zarz ), which was founded by Tyrolean colonists in the High Middle Ages from the Tyrolean monastery of Brixen in its former rule of Veldes (Bled). In the 19th century the German language was lost there too.

The Ortenburgers founded the first hammer smiths as early as the 14th century. Until the 16th century, the remote Bohinj was only connected to the outside world by a footpath that led over the Vrh Bace saddle into the Soča valley to the south and over the edges of the Pokljuka to Gorenjsko in the north. Increasing demand for iron goods and the influx of immigrants from Italy in the 16th century brought about a stronger development of the hammer mills, which were mentioned in writing in Bohinjska Bistrica in 1549 and in Stara Fužina until the end of the 19th century. After that, they could no longer keep up with the more modern European iron industry.

The ore for the Bohinj hammer mills was mined on the surrounding plateaus in the form of bean ore . Charcoal was burned for ore smelting on the Pokljuka and Jelovica plateaus. The molten iron was mainly processed into wires and wire nails; in the middle of the 19th century, between 400 and 800 tons of pig iron were extracted annually in the Bohinj blast furnaces. Around 450 iron smelters, blacksmiths, miners, coal burners and carters worked in the hammer mills. The decline of the hammer mills at the end of the 19th century was a severe blow to the Bohinj economy. The smelting furnace remains in the settlement of Pozabljeno near Bohinjska Bistrica and the country castle of Sigmund Zois von Edelstein are evidence of the hammer mills .

The inhabitants of Bohinj then began to occupy themselves more intensively with agriculture and forestry. Cattle breeding and with it the cheese dairy flourished. In the 19th century, cheese cooperatives began to be founded in most of the villages around Bohinj and in the mountains and they were equipped according to Swiss and Austrian experience. The development of the dairy was mainly stimulated by the pastor of Bistra, Janez Mesar, and the Swiss patron of the dairy industry, Thomas Hitz. Bohinj cheese was sold beyond what is now Slovenia as far as Trieste and Vienna.

In the mountain war of the First World War , the Isonzo front ran along the ridge in the southwest of the valley, which is still evident today from positions .

Surname

Legend has it that both the Slovenian and the German name of the place come from the encounter between the locals and a German-speaking traveler who repeatedly asked them where to go? should have asked.

Churches in Bohinj

  • Church sv. Janez (Ribčev Laz),
  • Church of Marijinega vnebovzetja ( Assumption of Mary , Bitnje),
  • Church sv. Magdalene (Brod),
  • Church sv. Ahacija (Nemški Rovt),
  • Church sv. Duha ( To the Holy Spirit , Sveti Duh),
  • Church sv. Marjete (Jereka),
  • Church sv. Križa ( To the Holy Cross , Koprivnik),
  • Church sv. Martina (Srednja Vas),
  • Church sv. Miklavža (Bohinjska Bistrica)

Personalities from the community

Personalities born there

  • Bernard Locnikar (September 28, 1848 - November 7, 1894), Benedictine, 3rd Abbot of St. John's, Collegeville, USA (1890-1894)

Web links

Commons : Bohinj  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Wilhelm Baum: The Brixner Colony Deutsch-Gereuth near Veldes in Upper Carniola . In: The Sciliar . tape 55 . Vogelweider, Bozen 1981, p. 42–44 ( google.at [accessed on March 20, 2018]).