In addition to the life-shaping and life-threatening conditions, among which we can also include the peddling trade, three other eventful developments follow the Gottscheers into the new century: the Turkish threat, the exploitation by the feudal lord or his executors, and the hatred for the "authority" incorporated in it. The peasants met these internal and external pressures with defiance and resistance. However, they reacted not only with rebellion but with an astonishing display of vitality, an extensive internal colonization.
The mortgage system apparently did not yield sufficient funds for Emperor Frederick III (died in 1493). Otherwise, it is inexplicable why he sold the so-called manor "Pölland" located at the southern edge of Gottschee, to a certain Hohenwarth for 2,000 guilders shortly before his death. The area was linguistically mixed. Josef Obergföll in the twentieth century still found Gottscheer family names there.
This region had suffered even more damage at the hands of the Turks than the rest of Gottschee. The decimated population was finally no longer able to fill its living space with its own people. No one from the main settlement region, however, dared to settle there. The Carniolian provincial administration attempted to settle Uskoken in the region which was almost totally uninhabited in the first third of the sixteenth century. The Uskoken were a Croatian-speaking Slavic tribe in Bosnia which also had to endure much under the rule of the Turks. According
to Simonic (pages 18-19), they began to establish themselves hesitatingly in the regions of Pölland and Kostel. However, since the authorities and the Carniolian provincial diet in Laibach could not agree upon their taxation, the necessary distribution of the land did not take place and their intention to settle remained provisional. After waiting patiently for some time, the Uskoken followed the example of the Turks and also undertook raids into, among other areas, the rest of Gottschee. They were particularly keen on cattle and horses. As late as 1613 and 1615, the peasants complained to the authorities about the violent, outrageous neighbors in the south. Many Uskoken families moved on and were absorbed somewhere in Croatia. It took quite some time for the natural population
density to be reached after the attacks by the Turks ceased. But the Gottscheers only participated in a very limited way in the resettling of the manor of Pölland. In a later district reform, the townships of Unterlag and Saderz, which were inhabited by Gottscheers, were reassigned to the linguistic island.
The manor of Gottschee, however, was mortgaged to Count Jörg of Thurn by Emperor Maximilian I in 1507. Actually, this was also a kind of sale on credit, because Maximilian retained the right to buy it back within sixteen years. Instead of granting the suffering peasants a respite, the new mortgage holder heaped demands upon demands. The caretaker of Thurn, Stersen, was soon the most hated man in the "Ländchen" because he showed no mercy in collecting the taxes and other duties. In 1515 the limit of endurance had been reached. One day, the peasants, extremely angry, gathered in the city and confronted the caretaker. However, when he mocked them for their demands, they killed him. Dr. Karl Rom, the physician born in Oberdeutschau, wrote the novel Rebellion in der Gottschee about this highly dramatic historical period. It is the only historical novel by a Gottscheer about the history of his homeland.
Despite the uprising, the arbitrariness of Jörg von Thurn hardly changed. In 1523 the Hapsburgs first overlooked the repurchasing deadline of the manor of Gottschee, but under pressure they did take possession of it again a year later. But it was immediately sold to Hans Ungnad. He had to agree to a re-purchase within a certain time period, which was "extended" to infinity in 1537. The expectation that the manor of Gottschee would increase considerably in value within the foreseeable future was behind this measure. This did actually occur, to be sure in the second half of the sixteenth century, with the third settlement phase, the inner colonization. The records list twenty-five new villages, without giving their geographical location, size, and exact founding dates. Thus, this gap in the colonization history of Gottschee still has to be closed.
A simple consideration shows us where we are mainly to look for these new settlements. Let's recapitulate: Soon after the onset of the Turkish attacks, the Gottscheers established forest preserves, planted thorn hedges, built fortifications, and announced the coming of the enemy with signal fires. In his series about the dukedom of Carniola, Valvasor summarily honored these efforts by the Gottscheers with the statement that Gottschee had been "... the warning for and also sentry of the province of Carniola." All of these measures could not prevent the destruction by Asiatic hordes.
The Gottscheers looked for new ways to defend themselves. Young people, above all, may have asked themselves, how about getting out of the way of the Turks? Their attack routes were familiar. What areas did the enemy not invade? The impassable western slopes of the Hornwald with their dense manor forests that had never been cut down - a virgin forest zone whose perimeter at the time of the Lord of Ungnad was defined by the larger townships of Altlag, Nesseltal, Stockendorf, Tschermoschnitz, and Pöllandl.
It cannot be proven, but also not denied, that the Lord of Ungnad had already begun to release manor forests in the eastern region of the "Ländchen" for further settlement. To be sure, new townships on a larger scale only arose under the Croatian counts of Blagay, who again took over Gottschee as mortgage holders from Ungnad in 1547. The counts of Blagay had to vacate their estates near Karlstadt (Karlovac) because of the Turkish attacks. They deserved the thanks of the House of Hapsburg because of their resistance against the Turks. During the seventy years that the counts of Blagay were the mortgage holders, two other important facts, besides the progress in the continued colonization of the linguistic island, become evident for historiography:
| a) | the first attempt to Slavinize the Gottscheers, and |
| b) | the appearance of the "Urbarium" (register) of 1574 with exact statistics about the geographical extent, the land division, the number of villages and "owners," as well as their duties and taxes. |
Under the Blagay, the Gottscheers gradually became aware of the existential law to which they had been subjected for more than six generations without fully realizing it, namely, that they spoke a different language and were different from their surroundings. To be sure, they were directly confronted with it. The Croatian mortgage holders employed secretaries who did not understand the Gottscheer dialect and also only had a limited command of the German of the time. In their activities in the "Ländchen," they also already showed a kind of active patriotism. Without consulting those concerned, they began to Slavinize German names. Thus, they added the syllable "itsch," which means "the son of ..." in the Slavic languages, to the ordinary names of Jakl, Michl, or Gaspar. The peasants fought against now being called Jaklitsch, Michitsch, or Michelitsch, or Miklitsch and Gasparitsch. They apparently were successful. No other name changes occurred, but those that had been Slavinized remained.
In a more limited sense, Gottschee also became a linguistic island in another regard - the liberation of the peasants in Carniola. Like the Gottscheers, the Slovenian peasants also rebelled against their feudal lords. These were - with a few exceptions - German noblemen. There were at times even cross-communications between the Gottscheers and the rebelling Slovenian peasants in Lower Styria. In the case of the Slovenian-speaking basic population in Carniola, however, it was no longer a question of rebellion only against oppression and exploitation. They
identified the oppressor as being German. On the other hand, the German nobility in Carniola seemed to be dying out in nearly epidemic proportions at the turn of the fourteenth to the fifteenth century. We will not go into the reasons for this here. For the most part, the nobility's worldly estrangement in the past was the cause. The feudal families actually competed with each other to have their male and female offspring take up the religious life.
Thus, in the case of the Slovenian peasants two developments took place simultaneously: self-liberation and the arising of a clearly definable Slovenian consciousness. The German interspersions that were scattered throughout the entire land and the German citizenry in the cities and markets steadily declined in number and significance from decade to decade. Thus, Reifnitz, the former residence of the counts of Ortenburg, site of their Latin school, and predominantly inhabited by Germans during their time, was already a Slovenian city around 1500. This means that the Gottscheers were seen as being different, strange by the Slovenes - increasingly so with each generation. This does not mean that the traditional neighborliness between the two different ethnic groups changed into a defensive attitude or possibly to animosity. One noble family survived this development: Auersperg.
On the other hand, the Slovenes had been exposed too long to German culture to extricate themselves suddenly from it given their still sparse upper class. This changed, but also not abruptly, after Primus Truber (in Slovenian, Primoz Trubar - 1508-1586) gave them the Slovenian written language. He was a follower of Martin Luther and was the first to translate the Bible into Slovenian.
In the meantime, the Carniolian line of the lords of Auersperg had been elevated to barons. The first baron was Trajan, who also embraced Protestantism. He supported Primus Truber. He raised his own children in the new faith and permitted Protestant services in the castle chapel. During the Counter-Reformation Primus Truber fled to Germany and settled near Tübingen as a Protestant minister. His Slovenian Bible and other publications were also printed in Tübingen.
In the linguistic island of Gottschee, Protestantism was of no consequence. Attempts to spread it failed. Trajan had no other choice but to return to the faith of his forefathers.
As barons, the Auerspergers also did not lose sight of Gottschee. To establish a familial bond between the mortgage holder and their own family, one which one could possibly continue to develop in the future - Baroness Elisabeth was betrothed to the young Count Ursin of Blagay. Elisabeth seems to have had much empathy for the Gottscheer peasants.
Before we continue with the depiction of the inner colonization, it is useful to introduce the register of 1574 at this very point. We are most likely to do justice to this important document if we view it as a snapshot of the conditions in the dominion of Gottschee. The encompassing document did not arise out of any sense of historical responsibility to leave an accurate picture of Gottschee to posterity but out of pure self-interest.
In 1574 the dominion of Gottschee was subject to the Hapsburg Archduke Carl in Graz. His administrators had told him that the province had significantly increased production since the last appraisal. In 1573 Carl ordered that a register be quickly set up. It was already completed a year later. The Archduke was very pleased with the increase in value and considered himself justified in raising the mortage sum by about 26,000 florins. (The abbreviation for "florin" = fl. was already also applied to the Rhenish gilden in the sixteenth century.) Protest upon protest by the House of Blagay!
Now to the content of the register that the secondary school teacher and later director of the secondary school ("Gymnasium") in Gottschee, Peter Wolsegger, born in Matrei, East Tyrol, rediscovered while working in the archives of the district office. Wolsegger re-edited and published it in the Mitteilungen des Musealvereines von Krain (1890-91). At the beginning, there is a circumscription of the domain. Already in Wolsegger's time, it could no longer be determined cartographically because it was based on the names of fields and regions that had undergone changes or had been completely lost. Grothe prints it on page 213 of his book.
According to the Wolsegger edition, the register lists 136 villages and hamlets. Next to each name is the number of hides or partial hides that belonged to the village and their "owners." They are followed by the duties in natural produce or in cash that were imposed on the individual colonies.
The confined living space forces us to think about the existential imperative of the Gottscheers. It manifests itself in the strikingly severe division of the land that was suitable for farming and forestry. Four hundred ninety-eight half "register-hides" are listed. The manor forest is, of course, not included. By 1574, the land had already been divided to such a degree by inheritance and partial sale that only twenty-seven complete hides are still recorded. For the rest, the half hide predominates with 904 units. The remaining division is shown as four three-quarter hides, three third hides, thirty-two quarter hides and eight eighth hides. There are a total of 1,002 properties, ranging from the whole hide to the smallest, and therefore unprofitable, plot of farm land.
The register lists about 1,300 "owners." That this statistic is not identical to that of the whole hides and partial hides is probably due to the fact that one also considered sub-lessees as "owners" at that time. But let's stay with the 1,300 figure. Perhaps it will help us to arrive at a useful, realistic calculation of the population of the "Ländchen."
Grothe and Otterstädt estimate it at about 9,000 people. Unfortunately, they do not tell us how they arrived at this figure. We need to know that in order to be able to check the estimate. What was the social structure of Gottschee in the second half of the sixteenth century? The register simply tells us of a possible relationship between the lessees or their sub-lessees and the feudal lord. Altogether there were about 1,300. Most of the owners had half hides, which means that they and their families had to work about ten hectares, about forty "Tagwerk" ("Tagwerk" = about 27-47 acres). If they did not have a large number of children, they could not do it on their own. The soil was only turned and aerated with the hoe - "Haga" in the dialect. It is understood that the grain was harvested with the sickle. There were also a number of property-less day laborers, servants, and
maids. In addition, there were, as far as one can judge, already at that time several hundred old men and women who were spread throughout the entire "Ländchen." They managed to live from occasional work (when times were good), a cow, a few chickens, and charity. This sort of person, excluded from all active participation in the economy, was found in almost all villages up to the most recent times.
Let us summarize:
1. If we take the average Gottscheer family in peaceful times with 5.0 to 5.5 heads on the average, including the grandparents or one set of grandparents, we arrive at 1,300 times 5.0 or 5.5 = 6,500 to 7,150
2. Servants and day laborers, in part with families = 1,800 to 2,000
3. The elderly and the indigent = 300 to 400
A total of about 8,600 to 9,550
Thus, Professor Grothe's estimate is not totally erroneous, although the author feels that all three figures, including the alternative figures, are a bit too low. It is the author's opinion that one could safely raise the Grothe estimate to 10,000 to 10,500 without being far off the historical probability.
The size variance of the townships was already established in 1574. Rieg, with a village common of fourteen hides that were cultivated by thirty-two owners, was the largest. Rieg, which already was the seat of an office, that is, of an administrator or of a governor in 1398, must have grown very rapidly. Hereby, however, it only confirmed its role as an original settlement center and center of the Hinterland. The village name comes from Carinthia. Near Kolbnitz, Upper Carinthia there still exists today a parish by the name of "An dar Riaggan." Likewise, "In da Riagga gean" was an established concept throughout the centuries. At the beginning of the fifteenth century, Rieg probably already surpassed the neighboring village of Göttenitz, which had already been established during the first colonization phases. To be sure, it had to relinquish the parish seat to Rieg at the beginning of the fifteenth century, because Burkard Zink's chronicle mentions the first priest in Rieg already around 1409.
Another typical original village was Obermösel. The designation "Mösel" also comes from Carinthia. It is listed in the register with ten hides and twenty-eight owners. The already mentioned villages of Verdreng and Verderb lie within the extended sphere of Obermösel. With a bit of bilious humor, one might explain these two peculiar village names in Gottschee. It could be said that later colonists from Carinthia and East Tyrol felt themselves pushed (verdrängt-Verdreng) out of beautiful Mösel into ruin (verderben-Verderb) behind the later-to-be Verdreng mountain.
The villages of Nesseltal and Reichenau also had ten hides each. Nesseltal had thirty owners, Reichenau thirty-three, which indicates an already progressive division of the village common. Nesseltal, one of the most beautiful townships of the linguistic island, was the center of the Unterland and - like Rieg - it had the characteristics of a market due to its lively economic and cultural life. The village name of Reichenau comes from Carinthia. It enjoyed a special reputation because of its successful fattening of oxen, a skill that had been passed on for generations, as well as for its artistic weaving of sieves.
In the Oberland, the townships of Mitterdorf and Altlag assumed historic settlement functions similar to Rieg, Obermösel, and Nesseltal - probably already in the early part of the fourteenth century. To be sure, neither one of them shows any outstanding number of hides or owners in the register. Mitterdorf had six hides and twelve owners, Altlag seven hides and eighteen owners. The old name for Mitterdorf, "Altenkirchen," (in Slovenian "Stara cerkev"), no longer appears in the 1574 register.
The large Gottscheer villages - "large" is of course based on the size of the "Ländchen" - are located without exception in the western half of the settlement region, that section that still the counts of Ortenburg had considered and prepared for colonization and had opened up for settlement. The new establishments that
can be traced into the nineteenth century - there may have been about three dozen - remained without exception small. This is especially true of the townships of the woodlands around the Hornwald massif, which we will turn to now.
In the chapter on the fourteenth century, we saw that the primeval forest was to a certain extent invaded from the edges during the first settlement phase, particularly in the southeast and east. The colonization of the Suchen basin belongs to this period. Whereas the villages in the Kulpa valley or in the later dominion of Pölland are known, we know very little about the colonization on the eastern edge of the settlement region that took place at that time. To be sure, there are a number of Slovenian or Slovenian-sounding names of townships on record, but
it cannot be absolutely determined if the villages that are located there were established in the fourteenth or sixteenth century. It is only certain that the townships of Tschermoschnitz and Pöllandl originated at the time of Meinhart I and Hermann III. But already Stockendorf is a village with Carinthian settlers. Aside from the village name which is easily derived from "Stock" (stem), the root stem, there is in the vicinity of the village a field with the name "in der Wiederschwing," a name which also is found in Carinthia. Their successors concentrated their colonizing efforts in the western part of the primeval forest fief, which was more easily penetrated, and neglected the "Moschnitze." Since they did not get any additional settlers or support, the townships of Pöllandl and Tschermoschnitz did not develop nearly as quickly and extensively as the settlement centers in the western half of the "Ländchen." How unfavorable the living conditions in these three just mentioned villages were and remained can be seen from the register. With their 3 half hides and 11 owners Tschermoschnitz), 3 hides and 9 owners (Stockendorf), and 3 hides and 7 owners (Pöllandl), they are the laggards in the colonial development.
The conditions for continued economic growth were also unfavorable in the high valley of Suchen, whose unusual settlement history we now recall. To be sure, it is not yet concluded in 1574. The register only lists the villages of Ossiunitz with 4 hides (1 whole, 6 half) and 10 owners, Obergras and Mittergras with 4 hides (3 whole, 2 half) and 6 owners, as well as Untergras with 3 1/2 hides (2 whole, 3 half) and 5 owners.
We get a rather clear picture of the socialhistorical developmental aid of the Gottscheers from the register, since there are the following: the lord's service (forced and statute labor), as well as the tribute in natural produce and cash money. To be sure, the register manuscript, which was rediscovered by Peter Wolsegger, does not reveal if these were demands previously imposed on the peasants, or if they were already demands newly established after the mortgage sum was raised. In addition, every count of Blagay issued a written declaration that he would not tax the peasants unduly nor restrict their old rights. How illusory this declaration actually was is demonstrated by the raising of the mortgage sum by Archduke Karl by an amount which exceeded all reasonableness.
Every village was allotted its feudal dues. Of the crops, they had to deliver wheat, rye, and millet. Not mentioned are barley and buckwheat. It must be emphasized that the potato and corn were not yet known as food for human
consumption in the sixteenth century. Chickens, eggs, and cheese were the animal products that were demanded. Pigs and cattle, or their meat, were not demanded in this register. But instead, the farmers had to supply wine - a great amount of wine and cider.
This proves that the geographical boundary of the wine tribute was in Obermösel. It affected those owners in the Unterland who besides their actual farms, cultivated vineyards in Maierle. This shows that the wine-growing region in the southeast of the linguistic island in the sixteenth century had already existed for a long time, but that it was no longer profitable to cultivate a separate vineyard because it was too far away. The demand in grain, as well as wine and cider, was so great that it surely constituted the main source of revenue for the mortgage holder. After the amount needed by the court household at Fortress Friedrichstein had been set aside, the remainder was first stored in the "Maierhof" and then sold.
The "lord's service" was mainly made up of manual and team labor for the mortgage holder, in forced labor at the Maierhof, at the "town house," and at the fortress. Most likely, the Maierhof had been moved to the city because the Turkish threat had not ceased. A few examples for the lord's service and the dues:
The people of Oberloschin had to transport grain to the mill. This tells us that there was already a mill in use on the Rinse in 1574. Besides the "transporting of two loads of cider" the people of Windischdorf had this special assignment:" When they went fishing in the waters of Gotsche, they had to transport the vat." They also had "to fence in the Maiergarden for the hay raking." Also, Malgern had to transport a load of cider. In addition, so it was stated, ". . . four owners are to carry letters to Reifnitz and Seisenberg."
Like other villages, Schalkendorf had to bring court grain to the Maierhof and would "... have to repair and clean it." In addition, Schalkendorf had to clear the snow from the "town house" and "the castle."
Even the constant tending of the "Kreitfeuer" appears in the register as the special duty of individual villages such as Prerigel, Graflinden, Unterdeutschau, and Nesseltal. In addition, Unterdeutschau had to perform forced labor in the castle and carry letters to Pöllandl as well as "to Gotsche." Furthermore, Nesseltal had to deliver four loads of wine and twenty-five shingles per capita. Obermösel had to contribute three loads of wine and "the needed roof shingles for Fortress Friedrichstein and the ministry in the city."
Nevertheless, a few settlements, such as Fliegendorf, did not have to make any contributions "... because they are quite insecure and their properties are in the shrubbery near the Kulp" (the river Kulpa).
The most oppressive service must have been the clearing, in severe winters, of the path that leads to Fortress Friedrichstein.
The dues and services of the peasants were overseen by a caretaker, who had his office in the aforementioned "ministry" in the city. It is not documented when and by whom the "ministry," also called "townhouse," was built. It must, however, already have existed for some time before the register of 1574 was established, since we can conclude from the demand for shingles that it was in need of repair.
The new assessment of the dominion of Gottschee by the Hapsburgs in Graz actually turned out to be unrealistic. The mortgage holder simply would have brought about a peasant uprising like the one in 1515 if he had wanted to impose the mortgage sum of over 26,000 florins on the "Ländchen." Count Franz of Blagay, mortgage holder at the time the register was established, finally convinced the authorities in Graz that it was impossible to meet these excessive demands. Astonishingly, little was left of the sum. On page 21 of his pictorial book, Otterstädt writes that one at first reduced the 26,160 florins to 15,000, 5,000 of which were to be used to repair the "fortress in the city" and the fortifications. This confirms that the townhouse was very much in need of repair. The remaining 10,000 florins were to be paid in installments during the next eight years. But even this remainder of the original sum exceeded what the Count was willing to pay and what the peasants could manage. The peasants again strongly and dangerously protested towards the end of the seventies. According to Otterstädt, the final increase amounted to a total of 5,000 fl. in 1589, after a recent raid by the Turks in which the city was burned down. This sum was to be paid in three annual installments. To quote Otterstädt: "Thus the dominion of Gottschee was burdened with a mortgage payment of 12,000 fl. in gold, 10,500 fl. in coin and 900 fl. in cash, an enormous sum."
The financial state of the counts of Blagay grew increasingly critical in the 1590's. They attempted to extract more dues from the peasants. These became increasingly restless. They looked for an escape in, or rather from, their suffering. In meetings, a plan was drawn up to suggest to Archduke Carl that he relieve the House of Blagay by accepting a one-time payment of the mortgage increase demanded in 1574. From then on, they wanted to administer the dominion of Gottschee on their own. The 16,160 fl. were to be collected from the populace
at great sacrifice. The Count of Blagay heard of this plan and prevented its execution in Graz.
Regardless of its success or failure, the plan reveals a certain political development by the Gottscheers, which here reached its first peak. They wanted to govern themselves - no more and no less. If we compare this to their stance at the beginning of the fifteenth century, when they recouped themselves from the forest of their feudal lord Frederick III, or at the beginning of the sixteenth century, when they killed Stersen, then we see here a thoroughly political concept. It also makes clear that by the end of the sixteenth century the Gottscheers were fully aware of their situation as a linguistic island.
Still one more question at the conclusion of the chapter on the register of 1574: What had led the officials of Archduke Karl to conclude that the dominion of Gottschee had significantly increased in value? In Graz also, it was not unknown that there had been no Turkish raids since 1559, and from this one concluded that the agricultural yields must have increased. In addition, Karl's secretaries were aware that the number of villages had multiplied. The civil servants, who were constantly concerned with the financial worries of their lords, viewed this as
an increase in value which had to be skimmed off as quickly as possible. Both assumptions proved to be erroneous.
The brief respite after 1559 did not allow the Gottscheers to recover from the damage inflicted by the Ottomans, particularly since the mortgage holder by no means relented in his demands for natural produce and taxes. To be sure, Franz of Blagay showed understanding for the efforts of the peasants to establish new villages. This brings us once more to the inner colonization. And, of course, the Count also thought not a little of the advantages that were in it for him, although these would only be realized in the distant future. On the other hand, the new
colonists fulfilled unawares the natural law of migratory balance between densely and sparsely settled zones. The most extensive example for this is the flooding of millions from Europe to the United States of America. More than six million headed west across the Atlantic Ocean from the German empire alone. In Gottschee, the main movement for opening new primeval forest regions was from west to east. Why this was so is not known. Only in two cases do we know for certain the who, when, and where of land released for settlement: Countess Elisabeth of Blagay, a Baroness of Auersperg by birth. They are the villages of Langenton (1605) and Masereben (1613). It cannot be determined if Countess Elisabeth had made other settlements possible. Unfortunately, historians only give the total number of new establishments, namely twenty-five. Admittedly, there is a scarcity of documents for the early history of Gottschee, but regrettably not even existing ones were fully exhausted - like the register of 1574, which gives much information about the sparse colonization. To be sure, one has to combine it with another document that is not often taken into consideration.
We have only to assume that those villages that are not yet mentioned in the register also did not exist yet. The next document, which was likewise kept in detail, is the recruiting register of Maria Theresa from the year 1770. All the cities, markets, and villages of the entire empire are recorded in it. The logical conclusion: All the Gottscheer villages which are not mentioned in 1574 but appear for the first time in 1770 must be part of the inner colonization. To be sure, the following list of these Gottscheer townships has one flaw. It does not reveal which villages actually were established in the sixteenth century. One will never be able to determine this. Let us therefore be satisfied with the list that follows:
| Parish
of Tschermoschnitz: Alttabor Maschel Neutabor Plösch Widerzug Wretzen |
Parish
of Stockendorf: Roßbüchel Skrill Töplitzel |
| Parish
of Nesseltal (eastern part): Schäflein Schlechtbüchel Suchen |
Parish
of Pöllandl: Steinwand |
| Parish
of Döblitsch: Maierle |
The following townships are documented for the first time in 1770 for the western half of the "Ländchen" settled by the Ortenburgers:
| Parish
of Obermösel: Suchen Unterskrill |
Parish
of Graflinden: Ramsriegel Thura |
| Parish
of Niederdorf: Masereben (see above). |
Parish
of Langenthon: Langenthon |
| Parish
of Hinterberg: Hornberg |
Parish
of Suchen (in the high valley): Merleinsrauth |
| Parish
of Unterlag: Unterpockstein |
The later established settlements around the Hornwald massif show typical similarities: They are poorly situated (off the major traffic routes), small, obviously not laid out according to a plan, and none of them developed into centers. Moreover, it is interesting that in the census of 1910 no inhabitant declared himself to be a Slovene. Obviously, the Slovenes did not consider this region economically profitable.
("Jahrhundertbuch der Gottscheer", Dr. Erich Petschauer)
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