Staro Brezje (pronounced [ˈstaːɾɔ ˈbɾeːzjɛ]; German: Altfriesach,[2][3] Gottscheerish: Wriəshoch[4]) is a settlement in the hills east of the town of Kočevje in southern Slovenia.

[6] Both the standard German name Altfriesach (prefixed with Alt- 'old') and the unprefixed Gottscheerish name Wriəshoch are derived from Slovene breza 'birch', brezje 'birch grove'.

On 20 December 1942, Italian forces discovered the Partisan committee for the Koprivnik zone in one of the houses, after which they killed six people and burned the village.

[7] The local church, dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, originally dated from the late 16th or early 17th century.

The new main altar, dating to 1887, featured a wooden sculpture of the Virgin Mary.