Days of Gottschee Culture start in Dolenjske Toplice
Dolenjske Toplice, 6 June - Days of Gottschee Culture will kick off on Thursday evening in Dolenjske Toplice, south-east, for the 10th time. A series of events spanning until Sunday aims to preserve the heritage of the Gottschee Germans or Kočevarji, who lived in the area of Kočevje in the south of Slovenia until the end of the Second World War.
Semič
The Days of Gottschee Culture festival.
Photo: Rasto Božič/STA
File photo
This year's Days of Gottschee Culture will open with a ceremony on Thursday, followed by the opening of an exhibition on the former German language island in the area of Kočevje.
On Friday the Museum of Gottschee Native Inhabitants will host a film night on the community.
Saturday will start out with an ex-tempore painting event and a debate on successful Gottschee Germans. A mass will be held later, offered by Novo Mesto Bishop Andrej Saje. The Maribor-based Hugo Wolf chamber choir will give a performance.
A hike through the Gottschee villages is planned for Saturday afternoon as well as a guided tour of the Museum of Gottschee Native Inhabitants.
The festival will conclude in the evening with a party and cultural programme.
On Sunday the admission to the Museum of Gottschee Native Inhabitants will be free. A guided tour will be held to visit the ruins of two villages where the Gottscheers used to live.
The Germans settled in the area of Kočevje in the 14th century. In 1870, some 26,500 Gottscheers lived in the region. They mostly resettled due to the 1930s recession and repatriation efforts by the Nazis during WWII.
Today some 600-700 direct descendants of Gottscheers still live in Slovenia, according to data of the Association of Gottschee Organisations.
Their numbers are decreasing, which is why the municipalities of Semič, Dolenjske Toplice and Kočevje have joined forces and alternate in hosting the Days of Gottschee Culture.