Prekmurje

Coordinates: 46°42′0″N 16°12′0″E / 46.70000°N 16.20000°E / 46.70000; 16.20000
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Traditional regions of Slovenia.

Prekmurje (Slovene pronunciation:

Rába; Slovene: Porabje) in the westernmost part of Hungary.[3][4]
It maintains certain specific linguistic, cultural and religious features that differentiate it from other Slovenian traditional regions. It covers an area of 938 square kilometers (362 sq mi) and has a population of 78,000 people.

Name

It is named after the Mur River, which separates it from the rest of Slovenia (a literal translation from Slovene would be Over-Mur or Transmurania). In Hungarian, the region is known as Muravidék, and in German as Übermurgebiet.

The name Prekmurje was introduced in the twentieth century, although it is derived from an older term. Before 1919, the Slovenian-inhabited lands of

Vas County in the Kingdom of Hungary and Austria-Hungary were known as the Slovene March or "Vendic March" (in Slovenian: Slovenska krajina, in Hungarian: Vendvidék). The part of modern Prekmurje that belonged to Zala County (the area between Lendava, Kobilje and Beltinci) was not considered to be a part of the Slovenian March. Until the early 19th century, this region of the Zala County belonged ecclesiastically to the Archdiocese of Zagreb and in the legal documents of the Archdiocese it was called as "Transmurania" or "Prekmurje", that is the "territory on the other side of the Mur River". After 1919, this name was reintroduced, now for administrative purposes, by the new Yugoslav administration. It, however, did not gain much popularity among the locals. The name "Slovenian March" was still used by the local inhabitants until the mid-1920s, but was gradually replaced by the term "March of the Mur" (Slovenian: Murska krajina). The current Hungarian name for Prekmurje, Muravidék, dates from the interwar period and is a translation of the Slovenian Murska krajina. From the mid-1930s onward, the name Prekmurje became widely used in the press and eventually became the most common name for the region. After World War II
, this name replaced all previous designations.

Nowadays, the older term Vendvidék still exists in Hungarian, but it is used only for the small settlement area of Hungarian Slovenes between Szentgotthárd and the Slovenian border that remained part of Hungary after 1919.

Geography

The Lendava Hills in winter

The region is divided into three geographical subregions: the hilly area to the north of

Mur River, known as Ravensko (literally, 'the flatlands'), and the western lowlands around Lendava, known as Dolinsko (literally, 'the lowlands'). Northeast of Lendava, there is a small hilly sub-region, known as the Lendava Hills
(Lendavske gorice).

The administrative and commercial seat of the region is the town of Murska Sobota. The only other major town is Lendava. Other significant rural centres are Beltinci, Turnišče, Dobrovnik, and Črenšovci.

Population

A traditional house in Prekmurje.

The majority of the inhabitants of the region are ethnic

Hungarian and Romani
minorities in the region.

In 1921, the total population of the area numbered 92,295, including 74,199 Slovene speakers, 14,065

expelled from the area or assimilated after World War II
.

Since the early 1950s, Hungarian has had co-official status in the traditional settlement area of the Hungarian minority. Three municipalities are completely bilingual—Lendava (Hungarian: Lendva), Hodoš (Hungarian: Őrihodos), and Dobrovnik (Hungarian: Dobronak)—and the two municipalities of Šalovci and Moravske Toplice are only partially bilingual. Two municipalities, Hodoš and Dobrovnik, have a Hungarian majority.

Prekmurje has traditionally been the most heterogeneous Slovene region regarding religious affiliation. Besides a

Lutheran) minority, concentrated in the hills of the Goričko region, which represents 20 to 25% of the population of Prekmurje. Three municipalities have a Lutheran majority (Puconci, Gornji Petrovci, and Hodoš), whereas in the Municipality of Moravske Toplice
Lutherans comprise just under half of the population.

Before

Holocaust, and many of the survivors made aliyah after the war. There is also a significant Romani presence in the region, with Prekmurje being one of the two major settlement areas of Slovenian Romani (the other being Lower Carniola
).

History

See also: Slovene March (Kingdom of Hungary) and Republic of Prekmurje
Principality of Lower Pannonia under prince Kocel
' (9th century)
Kingdom of Carantania

Overview

The region has had a turbulent history: it has been inhabited since the

Yugoslavia. Since 1991, it is part of an independent Slovenia
.

Antiquity to Middle Ages

During the Roman administration, the region was part of the province of

Kingdom of Hungary. The area inhabited by Slovenes shrank to the present extent by the end of the 12th century and has remained stable since. In the 11th century, during Hungarian administration, the region was part of the Kolon county. Between the 11th century and 1526, it was divided between Vas County and Zala County. In the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century, during the collapse of the central power in the Kingdom of Hungary, the region was part of the domain of semi-independent oligarch Henrik Kőszegi
.

Habsburg Royal Kingdom of Hungary

Map of the short-lived Republic of Prekmurje (1919)

In 1526, the region of Prekmurje came under

Kanije Province. In 1687, Vas and Zala counties were restored: with a small interruption from 1849 to 1867, most of Prekmurje belonged to Vas County except for the Lendava district, which was part of Zala County
until 1918.

20th century

After the end of

Kingdom of Hungary from 1941 to 1944 and by Nazi Germany between 1944 and 1945. Soviet troops took control of the area in May 1945. After the war it became part of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, which was one of the newly formed republics of Yugoslavia
.

Administrative Map of Hungary between 1941 and 1944
Bilingual (Slovenian and Hungarian) signs in Martinje (Hungarian: Magasfok)

Administrative divisions

Prekmurje is part of the Mura Statistical Region, also known as Pomurje or the Mura Region, which includes two historical regions: Prekmurje and the Prlekija sub-region.

Prekmurje is divided into 19 municipalities:

Languages

Main article: Prekmurje Slovene
Miklós Küzmics's catechism in the Prekmurje dialect from 1804

The majority of the population of Prekmurje uses Slovene, either in its standard form or in the

Prekmurje dialect. Some of the local population speaks Hungarian or Romani. Before World War II
, German was also present in the region, especially in some areas along the border with Austria. According to the Yugoslav census of 1931, just over 2% of the population of the region spoke German as their native language, and around 12% used Hungarian. After 1945, most of the German speakers either fled or were expelled, and the use of Hungarian has been in slow but constant decline since 1918.

Prekmurje Slovene served as the regional language of the Prekmurje region and of the Slovenes in Hungary for a long time. It had a codified standard form and even a small literary corpus of around 200 to 300 works. However, after the 1930s, and especially after the end of World War II, the use of the written Prekmurje dialect steeply declined, but it has never been entirely abandoned.[5][6][7][8] It has continued to be used by a broad range of people and, like other Slovene dialects, has retained its own special features that distinguish it from standard Slovene. Most Slovene speakers in the region, like elsewhere in Slovenia, thus live in a situation of diglossia. Although minority languages and the local dialect are still widely used in most spheres of private life, especially in rural areas, standard Slovene is used in education, media, and public life.

bilingual
.

Some of the Roma population in the region have retained Romani. Slovenia recognizes Romani as a minority language, but this official recognition has very few consequences in practice. The legal protection of Romani is much weaker than that for Hungarian.

Cuisine

The Prekmurska gibanica is a typical pastry of the Prekmurje region.

The region is known for its distinctive cuisine. Among traditional dishes, the best known are a pork, turnip and millet casserole called bujta repa and a layered pastry called prekmurska gibanica.

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ "Slovenski pravopis 2001: Prekmurje".
  2. ^ Források a Muravidék történetéhez/Viri za zgodovino Prekmurja, 292. p.
  3. ISBN 978-961-91456-1-6
    . Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  4. ^ "Slovenians in Hungary". Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Slovenia. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  5. ^ Lukácsné Bajzek Mária–Mladen Pavčić: A szlovén nyelv
  6. ISBN 978-961-6182-78-2
    . p.
  7. ^ Vilko Novak: Izbor prekmurskega slovstva, Ljubljana 1976. 98. p.
  8. ^ Szijártó Imre: Murán innen, Murántúl (jelenkor.hu) Archived 2012-03-19 at the Wayback Machine

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Prekmurje.

46°42′0″N 16°12′0″E / 46.70000°N 16.20000°E / 46.70000; 16.20000

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