Slovenia Maps

Slovenia is organized like New England townships with surrounding countryside and small towns attached to a larger town. Today there are 210 of these obcinas. There are at least two names for every town in Slovenia—a Slovene and German name. It is important to know both names.

There are two volumes of my favorite Slovenian Gazetteer/Map books in the FHL-SLC. It is the Slovenija na vojakem zemljevidu, 1763-1787 : Opisi=Josephinische Landesaufnahme für das Gebiet der Republik Slowenien, 1763-1787:Landes-beschreibung von Vincene Raj. Military description of localities in the ordnance survey mandated and carried out under the reign of Joseph II of Austria. Description is arranged by map section number, with an index to localities. Text is in German and Slovenian. FHL book call no. EUR 949.73 E5r 1995 and 949.73 E5r 1995 vol. 2. This is an excellent and easy to use gazetteer/map set. The Gazeteer gives both the Slovene and German names for every place and can be looked up in the index under either name. These beautiful detailed maps give place names in German. These maps are an excellent source to find where the churches, sanitary district, etc. as given in the Gemeindelexicon der Reichsrat. Unfortunately, the FHL has only Vol. 1 and 2. They cover the south center and center of Slovenia. At last check even these two were in high density and missionaries were not able to retrieve them for me. They need to be removed from high density and the other volumes need to be purchased as they are invaluable.

If you live near or visit the Family History Library in Salt Lake there is a beautiful colored map that can be copied that gives the locations for many of the different denominations in Slovenia including Jewish, Muslim; and, of course, Roman Catholic. It is filed in the map drawers under Slovenia FHL Europe Ref Area 949.73 K23v v.1. A similar map listing all the civil registration offices for Slovenia is filed next to it. FHL Europe Ref Area 949.73v v.3.

If these are unavailable to you use:

Detailed maps of Central Europe, 1889-1967. 1889-1967. Generalkarte von Mitteleuropa, 1-200,000. ca. 600 maps. FHL microfilm 1181580 item 1. iv p73

The two most important gazetteers for research in Slovenia are:


 * Allgemeines Geographisch-Statistisches Lexikon allers österreichischen Staaten by Franz Raffelsperger Vienna: Verlag der K.K.A.P. Typographischen Kunstanstalt, 1845-1853. Published in nine volumes. This gazetteer is completely alphabetical but uses its own Germanized spellings. The hardest part of using this gazetteer is negotiating through theses spelling rules which are listed on pages xvii-xxi of volume one. A good example is the town of Jelendol which is spelled Jeliendull in this gazetteer. Geographical equivalent terms for German, Polish, Hungarian and Slovak are given on page xix. There is also a list of abbreviations starting on page xiii. The entry for each place can include the province it is in, population, buildings, the nearest major city (s), alternative names, whether a village, town, suburb, or city, and ecclesiastical denominations.

Another problem in using gazetteers occurs when there are multiple places with the same name. If my grandmother’s worker’s book had not indicated that the Sv. Primoz was near Studenec/ Brundl. And if I had not already noticed on a map that Studenec is south of Sevnica/Lichtenwald I do not know if I could have identifies this Sv. Primoz from the ten entries in Raffelsperger with Primus as part of the place name.

The correct entry from Rafflesperger for this place is listed as: Primus, St., Steiermark, Cillier Kreis, eine Filialkirche, 3 Stunde von Lichtenwald, 11 Meilen von Cilli.


 * This Gazetteer of the Austrian portion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is based on the 1890 census. Gemeindelexicon der im Reichsrate vertretenen Königreiche und Länder : bearbeitet auf Grund der Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1900. Wien : Verlag der k.k. Hof- und Staatsdrucherei, 1905-1908. Published in fifteen volumes. The volumes for Slovenian are: (Steiermark, Krain, and Kärnten) v. IV-VI FHL microfilm 1187925 items 2-4 - 1187928. A digital version can be accessed at home through the Family History Catalogue . Since I know the towns I want were in the Krain I will start in the index to volume 6. Abbreviations are found in the front of each volume. All names in this gazetteer are given in German.

Grandmother said her Grandmother was born in “Telcah” On page 229 of the index a Telce is listed on page 46. On page 46 a Telce is in the same Gerichtsbezirk (Court district) as Stopno (where Grandfather was born) and Jelenj Dol. Statistics given for each place include: 1. The area in Hektars for the Court district (Gerichtsbezirk). 2. The number of men and women (and the total) living in the village in 1900. 3. How many were Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, plus a column labeled other. 4. How many in the village spoke German, Slovene, or other languages. 5. How many houses were in the village. Page 47 groups several of the smaller villages together by the number assigned to the towns on page 46. For instance: Jelenj Dol is listed with Dule,Dole. On this page is given how many acres of taxable properties, how many lawns, gardens, wine gardens, huts and small outbuildings; how many large land holdings, how many factories; and, how many of four different domestic animals. Do not forget to look up the name of the Gerichtsbezirk in the Appendix. Here you will find the name of the schools, the sanitation district, and; most important of all, the names of the Roman Catholic church—where their christenings, marriages and burials will be recorded.


 * A Gazetteer of all religious parishes, synagogues, etc. in the Austro-Hungarian Empire is titled: Österreich-ungarisches Orts-Lexikon enthaltend die Pfarrorte, Cultusgeinden und Filialen aller Confessionen Österreich-Ungarnds, Bosniens, and der Herzeqowina, 1896. Hans Mayerhofer. FHL microfilm 1256324 item 4. iv p73.