Crngrob

Crngrob (pronounced [ˈtsəɾnɡɾɔp]; German: Ehrengruben) is a small village in the Municipality of Škofja Loka in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.

Name

Crngrob was first attested in written sources as Erngrůb in 1291 (and as Errengrůb in 1318 and Erngruben in 1423). The Slovene name is borrowed from the Middle High German prepositional phrase ze Erngruben, literally 'at Erngrub'. The German name is a compound of ern 'to plow (up)' or erde '(fertile) soil' + gruobe 'depression, basin' and may refer to a mammoth rib dug up at the site (now hanging in the church), to a robber's hideout in a cave, or to the small fertile valley where the settlement is located. For similar Slovene geographical names based on foreign-language prepositional phrases of location, compare Cmurek, Cven, Dragonja, and Sostro. In the past the German name was Ehrengruben.

History

Crngrob was recorded in documents from the 13th century onward. Much of the history of the village is dominated by that of its church. During the Second World War, German forces attached the Partisan Selca Company above the village on 27 March 1942. Fifteen Partisans were killed in the attack.