Celje Hall (Slovene : Celjski dom) is a community center in Celje, a town in central-eastern Slovenia. Today it hosts several cultural associations and the town's tourist information centre, and is a venue for concerts and theatre.
The hall was built in an eclectic style by the Viennese architect Peter Paul Brang between 1905 and 1906 as the main seat of ethnic German associations in the town. As such, it was intended to contrast with Celje National Hall, which had a similar function for the local Slovenes. The building's original name was the "German Center" (German Deutsches Haus) and it was used as the main community center for the purposes of the local German-speaking population and by those that identified with German culture.
In 1919, after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the building was confiscated from the German community by the new Yugoslav authorities and renamed "Celje Hall". Several cultural associations were placed in the building, including the Hermagoras Society publishing house, which was after the Carinthian Plebiscite expelled from its original location in Klagenfurt, Austria. Throughout the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the German community tried to get back the property and the building, but they were unsuccessful. After the Nazi German occupation of northern Slovenia and Lower Styria in April 1941, the building was again restored to its former use. With the defeat of the Nazi regime in May 1945, most of the ethnic Germans fled the town together with the occupying German armed forces, whereas the others were expelled by the Yugoslav Communist authorities. The building was again renamed "Celje Hall".
Coordinates: 46°13′41.91″N15°16′0.77″E / 46.2283083°N 15.2668806°E
Maribor is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, the seat of the Drava statistical region and the Eastern Slovenia region. Maribor is also the economic, administrative, educational, and cultural centre of eastern Slovenia.
The history of Slovenia chronicles the period of the Slovenian territory from the 5th century BC to the present. In the Early Bronze Age, Proto-Illyrian tribes settled an area stretching from present-day Albania to the city of Trieste. The Slovenian territory was part of the Roman Empire, and it was devastated by the Migration Period's incursions during late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. The main route from the Pannonian plain to Italy ran through present-day Slovenia. Alpine Slavs, ancestors of modern-day Slovenians, settled the area in the late 6th Century AD. The Holy Roman Empire controlled the land for nearly 1,000 years, and between the mid-14th century and 1918 most of Slovenia was under Habsburg rule. In 1918, Slovenes formed Yugoslavia along with Serbs and Croats, while a minority came under Italy. The state of Slovenia was created in 1945 as part of federal Yugoslavia. Slovenia gained its independence from Yugoslavia in June 1991, and is today a member of the European Union and NATO.
Celje is the fourth-largest city in Slovenia. It is a regional center of the traditional Slovenian region of Styria and the administrative seat of the City Municipality of Celje. The town of Celje is located below Upper Celje Castle at the confluence of the Savinja, Hudinja, Ložnica, and Voglajna rivers in the lower Savinja Valley, and at the crossing of the roads connecting Ljubljana, Maribor, Velenje, and the Central Sava Valley. It lies 238 m (781 ft) above mean sea level (MSL).
The national flag of Slovenia features three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red, with the coat of arms of Slovenia located in the upper hoist side of the flag centered in the white and blue bands. The coat of arms is a shield with the image of Mount Triglav, Slovenia's highest peak, in white against a blue background at the center; beneath it are two wavy blue lines representing the Adriatic Sea and local rivers, and above it are three six-pointed golden stars arranged in an inverted triangle which are taken from the coat of arms of the Counts of Celje, the great Slovene dynastic house of the late 14th and early 15th centuries.
The University of Ljubljana, often referred to as UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 39,000 enrolled students.
The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians, are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia, and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovene as their native language. They are closely related to other South Slavic ethnic groups, especially Croats, as well as more distantly to West Slavs.
Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It was the capital of the former Province of Gorizia and is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin town of Nova Gorica has developed on the other side of the modern-day Italy–Slovenia border. The region was subject to territorial dispute between Italy and Yugoslavia after World War II: after the new boundaries were established in 1947 and the old town was left to Italy, Nova Gorica was built on the Yugoslav side. The two towns constitute a conurbation, which also includes the Slovenian municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba. Since May 2011, these three towns have been joined in a common trans-border metropolitan zone, administered by a joint administration board.
Dravograd is a small town in northern Slovenia, close to the border with Austria. It is the seat of the Municipality of Dravograd. It lies on the Drava River at the confluence with the Meža and the Mislinja. It is part of the traditional Slovenian provinces of Carinthia and the larger Carinthia Statistical Region.
Ptuj is a town in northeastern Slovenia that is the seat of the Municipality of Ptuj. Ptuj, the oldest recorded city in Slovenia, has been inhabited since the late Stone Age and developed from a Roman military fort. Ptuj was located at a strategically important crossing of the Drava River, along a prehistoric trade route between the Baltic Sea and the Adriatic. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria and it was part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. In the early 20th century the majority of the residents spoke German, but today the population is largely Slovene. Residents of Ptuj are known as Ptujčani in Slovene.
Slovenj Gradec is a town in northern Slovenia. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Slovenj Gradec. It is part of the historical Styria region, and since 2005 it has belonged to the NUTS-3 Carinthia Statistical Region. It is located in the Mislinja Valley at the eastern end of the Karawanks mountain range, about 45 km (28 mi) west of Maribor and 65 km (40 mi) northeast of Ljubljana.
The Bleiburg repatriations occurred in May 1945, after the end of World War II in Europe, during which Yugoslav territory had been annexed or occupied by the Axis powers, when tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians associated with the Axis powers fled Yugoslavia to Austria as the Yugoslav Partisans took control. When they reached Allied-occupied Austria, the British Army refused to accept their surrender and directed them to the Partisans instead. The prisoners of war were subjected to forced marches, together with columns captured by other Partisans in Yugoslavia. Tens of thousands were executed; others were taken to forced labor camps, where more died from harsh conditions. The events are named for the Carinthian border town of Bleiburg, where the initial repatriation was carried out.
Styria, also Slovenian Styria or Lower Styria, is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of Styria in its historical boundaries amounts to around 705,000 inhabitants, or 34.5% of the population of Slovenia. The largest city is Maribor.
The Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca, historically sometimes shortened to and spelled "Goritz", was a crown land of the Habsburg dynasty within the Austrian Littoral on the Adriatic Sea, in what is now a multilingual border area of Italy and Slovenia. It was named for its two major urban centers, Gorizia and Gradisca d'Isonzo.
The Germans of Yugoslavia are people of German descent who live in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, or Slovenia. The Germans of the former Yugoslavia include both Danube Swabians and Austrians. The largest German minority in the former Yugoslavia is in Serbia.
The history of the Jews in Slovenia and areas connected with it goes back to the times of Ancient Rome. The present-day small Jewish community of Slovenia is estimated at 400 to 600 members, with the Jewish community of Slovenia suggesting 500 to 1000 members. Around 130 are officially registered, most of whom live in the capital, Ljubljana.
Gottschee refers to a former German-speaking region in Carniola, a crownland of the Habsburg Empire, part of the historical and traditional region of Lower Carniola, now in Slovenia. The region has been a county, duchy, district, and municipality during various parts of its history. The term often also refers to the entire ethnolinguistic enclave regardless of administrative borders. Today Gottschee largely corresponds to the Municipality of Kočevje. The original German settlers of the region are called Gottschee Germans or Gottscheers, and their German dialect is called Gottschee German or Gottscheerish.
Novo Celje is a late Baroque mansion in the settlement of Novo Celje in the Municipality of Žalec west of Celje in the Styria region of Slovenia.
Gottscheers are the German settlers of the Kočevje region of Slovenia, formerly Gottschee County. Until the Second World War, their main language of communication was Gottscheerish, a Bavarian dialect of German.
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Mass graves in Celje were created in Celje, Slovenia, after the Second World War, from 1945 to 1956. The 11 known mass graves in Celje itself and 14 in the immediate vicinity include some of the largest mass graves in Slovenia.