POMURJE

In the revolutionary year of 1848, many people in Pomurje have contributed their signatures to support the ‘United Slovenia’ political programme. It was in Kapela near Radenci that the 12th national awakening meeting took place in 1870. The May Declaration, a programme that called for the unification of all South Slavic nations, was read in the Vienna Parliament in 1917 by Anton Korošec, a native of the region. After the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, locals responded in large numbers to General Rudolf Maister’s campaign to defend Slovenian ethnic territory along its northern border. It was thanks to another native of the region, Dr Matija Slavič, and his clever negotiation tactic at the Paris Peace Conference, as well as the great efforts of the local national awakening campaigners, that Prekmurje, the eastern part of Pomurje, was united with the rest of the nation in the then Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

Pomurje is linked to Austria, Hungary, and Croatia not only by a common history within Austria-Hungary, but also by many similarities in terms of culture, food, and wine, a result of centuries of coexistence on shared Pannonian plains. Pomurje is a crossroads of three microregions: Prekmurje with its primarily Hungarian influence, Prlekija and part of Štajerska with Austrian influences. Each microregion is interesting and unique in its own way. Prlekija is where Vinea Panonika is located, and its people are known to be cheerful, hard-working, honest, proud to be Slovenian but very welcoming to any visitor. Those who speak Slovene are fascinated by their dialect – which is difficult to miss as they tend to get chatty.