Gottschee

Always in our hearts, Forever our homeland

Our Homeland

1300 - 1941

Gottschee was once a settlement of Austrians in what's now Slovenia, which was itself once Yugoslavia. It was called a Deutsche Sprachinsel—a linguistic island of German speakers, surrounded by a sea of Slavic speakers. The Gottscheers arrived in the 1300s, when much of the area was untamed forest. Over the course of 600 years, they developed their own customs and a dialect of Old German called Gottscheerish. Only a few hundred people still speak Gottscheerish today, many of whom left Gottschee a long time ago.

For centuries, European empires came and went like the tides. But when World War II came, Gottschee abruptly vanished from the map. Today, there are hardly any traces of many of the 177 villages that held the memories and history of our family members and loved ones - but Gottschee still lives on today - in the hearts of all those who were forced to leave and their descendants.

It is our honor and privilege to carry on our loved ones traditions, and to tell their stories. We are committed and passionate about preserving our family members and friends lives, their traditions, hard work, heritage and our beautiful club for generations to come.

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