Dražgoše

Dražgoše was attested in written sources in 1291 as Drasigos (and as Drasigvs in 1318 and Draschigosch in 1481). The name is derived from *Dražigosťane, a plural demonym derived from the Slavic personal name *Dražigostь, referring to a local resident.{{cite book |last1=Snoj |first1=Marko |title=Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen |date=2009 |publisher=Modrijan |location=Ljubljana |page=126}} In the past it was known as Draschgosche in German.

File:Razgledanje spomenika u Dražgošama.jpg Josip Broz Tito in Dražgoše (1977)]]

Dražgoše was already inhabited in prehistoric times, as evidenced by archaeological excavations at a hillfort in the hamlet of Jelenšče. The site has visible defensive trenches.{{cite web |title=Dražgoše - Arheološko najdišče Jelenšče |url=http://giskd2s.situla.org/rkd/Opis.asp?Esd=12121 |website=Situla: Register kulturne dediščine |publisher=Slovenian Ministry of Culture |accessdate=July 13, 2019}}

A school was established in Dražgoše in 1894, replacing instruction that had previously been offered at the sexton's residence in the village since 1889.{{cite journal |last1=Prevc |first1=Julijana |title=Kronika šole v Dražgošah |journal=Loški razgledi |date=1994 |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=51–68 |url=https://www.dlib.si/stream/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-5ID51MRO/d9119a05-6720-4dd3-a2b9-ee3512220b28/PDF |accessdate=July 13, 2019}}

What is now Dražgoše was originally two villages named Pri Cerkvi ({{langx|de|Draschgosche bei der Kirche}}) (with the hamlet of Jelenšče; in older sources Jelenčice) and Na Pečeh ({{lang|de|Draschgosche vor der Kirche}}). These were combined into today's single village in 1931.{{cite book |title=Krajevni leksikon Dravske Banovine |date=1937 |publisher=Zveza za tujski promet za Slovenijo |location=Ljubljana |page=578}}

During the Second World War it was the site of the Battle of Dražgoše between Slovene Partisans and Nazi Germany armed forces, which took place between January 9 and January 11, 1942. After suffering heavy losses the Nazi forces set fire to the village, shot 41 hostages, and deported the remaining residents. In 1976 the Dražgoše war memorial was built just outside the village to commemorate this battle and the destruction of the village.

In August 1945, the new communist government presented a plan to modernize the village by rebuilding it with apartment blocks and collective farm infrastructure. The villagers reacted negatively to this plan, and then the government withheld funding for reconstruction, and so the villagers rebuilt Dražgoše themselves without any state support from 1949 to 1960.{{cite news |title=Prelita nedolžna kri |url=https://www.druzina.si/icd/spletnastran.nsf/all/8D116F2335254F01C12576A5002A67E6?OpenDocument |accessdate=July 10, 2019 |work=Družina |date=January 10, 2010}}{{cite news |title=Minka Hobjan in Franc Kavčič |url=https://www.rtvslo.si/pricevalci/oddaja/174314200 |accessdate=July 13, 2019 |work=Pričevalci |agency=RTV SLO}} The government also left the road to the village—which was built using forced labor by German prisoners of war—unfinished, stopping construction at Rudno. The road connection from Rudno to the hamlet of Na Pečeh was completed in the fall of 1949, allowing the villagers to transport cement and brick to the village using motorized transport. A road connection was built from the village to Jamnik in 1966.

A water main was installed at Na Pečeh in Dražgoše in 1946, and it was expanded to Pri Cerkvi in 1950. The village received a telephone connection in 1952. Construction of a new primary school in the village started in 1953, and the school was opened in 1959.

File:Drazgose Slovenia - old church 1.jpg

The parish church in Dražgoše stands in the hamlet of Pri Cerkvi and is dedicated to Saint Lucy. It is administered by the Parish of Železniki.{{cite web |last1=Petrič |first1=Franci |title=Župnijska cerkev sv. Lucije |url=http://www.druzina.si/ICD/spletnastran.nsf/all/20144469C9249996C12573280045CC95 |website=Družina |accessdate=July 13, 2019}} The current church was designed by Anton Bitenc in 1964 and built in 1967,{{cite web |title=Dražgoše - Cerkev sv. Lucije |url=http://giskd2s.situla.org/rkd/Opis.asp?Esd=1804 |website=Situla: Register kulturne dediščine |publisher=Slovenian Ministry of Culture |accessdate=July 13, 2019}} after two decades of bureaucratic opposition. It features paintings by Stane Kregar.

The new church replaced an older structure destroyed in 1942. That church was a Baroque structure dating from 1642.{{cite web |title=Dražgoše - Ruševine cerkve sv. Lucije |url=http://giskd2s.situla.org/rkd/Opis.asp?Esd=21194 |website=Situla: Register kulturne dediščine |publisher=Slovenian Ministry of Culture |accessdate=July 13, 2019}} Masses were held at the ruins of the old church until its successor was built. Today the stonework from the old church is stored in the former bell tower, and the church's gilded altar is displayed at the Loka Museum in Škofja Loka. Masses are offered at the ruins of the old church before the Feast of the Ascension and on All Souls' Day.{{cite web |title=Svete maše - Dražgoše |url=http://www.obcestvo.si/zupnije/drazgose/svete-mase-d |website=Občestvo |accessdate=July 13, 2019}}

Notable people that were born or lived in Dražgoše include:

• Luka Jelenc (1857–1942), educator, journalist, and politician

{{Reflist}}

• {{commons category-inline|Dražgoše}}
• [https://www.geopedia.world/#T12_L362_F2473:1481_x1574737.6404976705_y5822148.549137734_s14_b2345 Dražgoše on Geopedia]
• [https://www.drazgose.si/ Dražgoše web site]

{{Železniki}}

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Category:Populated places in the Municipality of Železniki

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