Žužemberk (pronounced [ˈʒuːʒɛmbɛɾk]; German: Seisenberg), is a town located southeast of the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana.

Žužemberk lies in the southern part of Carniola on the left bank of the Krka River and is dominated by a medieval castle.

[2] The village that grew around the castle was located at an intersection, and most of its inhabitants were craftsmen or peasants who traded their goods and held fairs.

[3][4] One of its most esteemed owners was Johann Weikhard of Auersperg, the tutor of the emperor Ferdinand III, who was court councillor and the first minister in the Habsburg monarchy, and who obtained family rights to prevent the castle's sale.

In 1559, the castle was conquered by Gregor, an illegitimate son of Georg von Auersperg with eighteen soldiers, but this conquest was quickly suppressed, and the castle was recaptured by Herbard VIII von Auersperg, the general of the Croatian region of the time, and the dead soldiers were thrown into the forest to be devoured by wild beasts.

[4] Over the next century a number of important nobles were born in the town, including in 1557 Andreas von Auersperg, the son of Wolf Engelbert, who after completing his studies in Padua, went on the receive a decoration by both the Pope and the Habsburg Emperor for his role in the defeat of the Turks in 1593.

He became the tutor of the emperor Ferdinand III, later becoming a prince and first minister in the Habsburg monarchy, and a cardinal in 1669, upon which he returned to this town, where he died in 1677.

Saints Hermagoras and Fortunatus Church was completed in 1769, was burned down in 1945 by the order of Partisan commander Pero Popivoda,[7][8][9] and only renovated in the late 20th century after Slovenia became independent.