Stara Vrhnika

Place in Inner Carniola, Slovenia

45°58′27.97″N 14°16′48.12″E / 45.9744361°N 14.2800333°E / 45.9744361; 14.2800333Country

SloveniaTraditional regionInner CarniolaStatistical region Central SloveniaMunicipalityVrhnikaArea

• Total7.59 km² (2.93 sq mi)Elevation

322.5 m (1,058.1 ft)Population

(2002)

• Total646^[1]

Stara Vrhnika (pronounced [ˈstaːɾa ˈʋəɾxnika]; German: Altoberlaibach^[2]) is a village north of Vrhnika in the Inner Carniola region of Slovenia.^[3] It includes the hamlets of Kuren (or Koren), Podčelo, and Razor.^[4]

Name

The name Stara Vrhnika literally means 'old Vrhnika'. Stara Vrhnika was attested in Latin church records as ex superiore Verchnik, and as Alt Oberlaibach oder Gorena Verchnik between 1764 and 1783. The village was originally called Gornja Vrhnika or Zgornja Vrhnika (literally, 'upper Vrhnika') in Slovene, referring to its position about 30 meters above neighboring Vrhnika. With the arrival of the German-speaking Habsburgs, Vrhnika became known as Oberlaibach (literally, 'upper Ljubljana'), which would have made the German designation for Stara Vrhnika the semantically awkward Ober-Oberlaibach. It was therefore called Alt Oberlaibach (literally, 'old upper Ljubljana') in German, and this was the source of the Slovene name Stara Vrhnika.^[5]^[6]

Church

The local church in Stara Vrhnika is dedicated to Saint Leonard. It was first mentioned in written sources in 1526.^[4] A second church on Kuren Hill west of the settlement is dedicated to Saint Nicholas. It has a flat painted wooden ceiling with poorly preserved paintings from the 16th century.^[4] Both churches belong to the Parish of Vrhnika.^[7]

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Stara Vrhnika include:

Floris Oblak (1924–2006), painter^[8]
Fran Ogrin (1880–?), technical writer and journalist^[4]
Gustav Ogrin (1900–1962), designer and technical writer^[4]
Ivan Ogrin (1875–1946), designer and crafts organizer^[4]
Simon Ogrin (1851–1930), painter^[8]
Valentin Petkovšek (1888–1975), agricultural specialist and technical writer^[4]

References

^ Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia
^ Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru, vol. 6: Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 120.
^ Vrhnika municipal site
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Savnik, Roman (1968). Krajevni leksikon Slovenije, vol. 1. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije. p. 452.
^ "Zgodovina Stare Vrhnike." (in Slovene)
^ Ogrin, Rafael. 1961. "Iz vrhniške preteklosti." Kronika: časopis za slovensko krajevno zgodovino 9(1): 1–4. (in Slovene)
^ Družina RC Church in Slovenia Journal website
^ ^a ^b Kulturno društvo Stara Vrhnika (in Slovene)