VELENJE

Velenje je peto največje mesto v Sloveniji s 26.742 prebivalci in središče mestne občine Velenje.

Nadmorska višina: 398 m
Število prebivalcev: 26742
Poštna št./pošta: 3320 Velenje
Občina: Velenje
Pokrajina: Štajerska
Statistična regija: Savinjska regija

VELENJE

The municipality of Velenje (MOV) is located in the eastern part of the Šaleška dolina valley. The central part of the municipality is situated on the plain along the Paka river. The entire V-plain of the Šaleška dolina valley has been urbanised, as over the last 50 years the town – fifth largest in Slovenia in terms of population – has grown and spread to include former settlements and hamlets of Škale, Stara vas, Staro Velenje, Šalek and Šmartno.

The northern part of the municipality reaches into the hills, which stretch from Razborje to Graška Gora and across the Paka gorge at Huda luknja to Paški Kozjak. The eastern boundary of the municipality runs along Dobrnsko podolje across the Pirešica creek and towards the south to the Ponikevska planota tableau and Ložniško gričevje hills, which separate Šaleška dolina from Spodnja Savinjska dolina i.e. the lower Savinja valley. The western boundary splits Šaleška dolina in half along the north-south line in the area of former village Preloge, where presently under the basin bedrock the most intensive lignite mining is taking place by the Premogovnik Velenje coalmining company. The border continues along the lower Velunja creek to the foothills of Graška Gora.

The heart of the municipality is the town of Velenje, a predominantly industrial centre (Gorenje, Premogovnik Velenje, Vegrad, Esotech, …), which is fast becoming the hub of the Savinjsko-Šaleška regija region with highly developed trade and other administrative, educational and other business sectors. Velenje has the status of a municipality.

 

HISTORY

Remains found in the Šaleška dolina valley testify that the valley was already inhabited in prehistoric times. Remains of a settlement of prehistoric man have been found in the Mornova zijalka cave by Šoštanj and in the Špehovka cave by Huda Luknja, and prehistoric artefacts in Bevče and at Plešivec. The remains from the Roman era, however, indicate the presence of a Roman settlement in the area presently known as Šaleška dolina.

The area of present Velenje was first mentioned in 1250; documents mention the Velenje market square for the first time in 1264 while the earliest reference to the castle rising above the old market square is found in the historic records of 1270.

In the 16th century, the Šaleška dolina valley became a hub of protestant life in the Štajerska region. The biggest accomplishment of that time was the school which the protestants established in Velenje. In medieval times the Šaleška dolina valley, on account of the large number of castles (over 20), became known as the ‘Valley of Castles” and the name has stuck to the present day.

In 1801 there was a big fire in Velenje, which reduced to ashes the entire market square including the church of Sv. Marija. At the time, a small market square was all there was to Velenje, which was second to Šoštanj in terms of size. In 1889 Velenje only counted 364 inhabitants.
Velenje began to mildly prosper at the end of the 19th and in the beginning of the 20th century, when a coalmine was opened in the vicinity of Velenje. Coalmining had only an indirect impact on the development of the market square as in those times Velenje was not yet a mining settlement. At the end of the 19th century, the main developed sectors in Velenje included trade and commerce, sawmills and wood processing plants, and agriculture as a vital, continually present industry.
In 1931, more than half of the resident population in the Šaleška dolina valley still lived off the land. Velenje lignite and the Šoštanj tannery were two of the reasons, which contributed to the railway being built in the area in 1891 effectively connecting Velenje to Celje; in 1899, the railway link was extended to Dravograd, Carinthia.

HISTORY OF THE TOWN

It was mainly after 1950 that, reflecting increased demand for coal, the need for a modern town became apparent. This new town was supposed to be built in place of initially proposed cottages for numerous miners from the entire Yugoslavia. Under the leadership of then director of Rudnik Velenje Mr Nestl Žgank, design engineers of Slovenija project, Ljubljana led by architect Janez Trenz, started developing plans for a modern town with approximately 30,000 residents. Žgank's motto that “… the dwelling places of miners, who spend half of the day underground, should be filled with light and sunshine…” resulted in a contemporary, modernistic town with free-standing structures situated in large, green areas. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons later town planners did not continue this concept. Nevertheless, they managed to preserve the late modernistic character of the town centre, which makes it one of only a few in Europe. Unprecedented expansion of the settlement with more than 20 large buildings having been built in only two years in late 1960s astonished the entire country, which awarded Velenje town rights on 20 September 1959, the day when Mestna občina Velenje now celebrates its municipal holiday.

Today, 45 years later, the town has reached the outer skirts of its planned development. On this anniversary we look back in wonder at how far we have come: that our parents, with hard work and dedication, and by taking advantage of the political climate, succeeded in integrating a few modest settlements, scattered across the eastern part of the Šaleška dolina valley, into what has become the fifth largest town in Slovenia.