Dravograd

Dravograd (pronounced [ˈdɾaːʋɔɡɾat] ⓘ; German: Unterdrauburg) is a small town in northern Slovenia, close to the border with Austria.

The German name Unterdrauburg denoted the place where the Drava River left Carinthia and flowed into the neighbouring Duchy of Styria.

In mid-December 1918, Dravograd was seized by the volunteer forces of Slovene General Rudolf Maister.

Per the 1919 Treaty of Saint Germain, Dravograd became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (the later Yugoslavia).

In the late 1930s, the Nazi movement started penetrating the German community in Dravograd, triggering the reaction of the Slovene majority.

In April 1941, after the Invasion of Yugoslavia, Dravograd was occupied by Wehrmacht forces and incorporated into the Carinthian Reichsgau of Nazi Germany.

Local Slovene political activists were either executed or deported to Nazi concentration camps.

In July 1941, the local artist Franjo Golob organized an underground anti-Nazi resistance cell, which was however soon discovered.

In mid-1943, the Yugoslav Partisans resistance movement started taking roots in the Dravograd area, which grew stronger by 1944, despite the brutal repressions of the Nazi authorities.

During the Ten Day War of Slovenian independence in June and July 1991, some fighting took place in the Dravograd area.

The parish church in the settlement is dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist and belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor.

Dravograd's castle on Valvasor 's copperplate engraving
Hydroelectric power plant in Dravograd