In 1091, a Benedict monastery in St. Paul in the Labot valley was founded by the earl Engelbert Spanheim. The monastery was awarded the village Ruše and the Lovrenc valley, at that time called Radimlje, around 1st May of the same year. The valley was already settled by a few shepherds, but there is also a stone axe , which proves that the settlement was here even earlier. Before the Benedict came, there was also a small chapel as a part of the Hoče parish. The settlement started to form in 12th century around the newly established monastery. The settlement was first named St. Lovrenc in the Desert, due to its countryside and the absence of traffic. In 1214 the Benedict founded a parish with its borders from the Lobnica river on the east to the Velka river on the west. Soon, Lovrenc developed into a borough (in the number of inhabitants treated between the village and the city) and was given its rights as a borough by Leopold III. Since then, there was a market place every Monday. From that times there is also the first count of the population and settlements, speaking about 165 families in 14 settlements (Ruta, Kurja vas, Činžat, Bezjak, Dešnik, Recenjak...)
In 15th century, the borough was attacked for many times by the neighbouring lords, especially by Oton Bergauer, the custodian of the earls of Celje on Muta, who set fire on the near Fala castle in 1407, on the Drava raft and the Lovrenc borough with the church. During the following years, the abbey from St. Paul rebuilt the church and fortified the surrounding walls, which played a very important part at the times of Turkish invasion in 15th century. But not only people caused devastation. Dire consequences were also caused by strong winds, an earthquake, there were bewildered mountain streams and even colts. Also the plague attacked the people here for several times, the most severely in 1680, when 383 citizents of Lovrenc were reported dead (to compare with much bigger Maribor, where 173 citizents died).
In 1627 the pilgrimage church in Puščava was built and that also brought some more importance to Lovrenc. In 1766, the present parish church of St. Lovrenc was built. Through the history, agriculture (83 mills) was very important as well as ironworks (for three ironworks all beeches were cut and that is why Pohorje today is mainly covered by needlelike forests; from one of the ironworks the factory Tovarna kos in srpov developed), timber industry (108 sawmills), rafting trade (the statue of St. Nicholas, rafters' patron, in the centre of the borough in 1754), and glazier's trade.
After the year 1861, the citizents of Lovrenc became more and more aware of their Slovene origins. The Slovene reading club which was established played its part, as well as a strong cooperative society and national defending movement which helped the Slovene citizents of Lovrenc against economically much stronger German citizents.
see detailed history (in Slovene)
Based on the book Lovrenc na Pohorju Through the Centuries, 1991
zadnja sprememba: 10.02.2009 10:13
