Ajbelj
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ajbelj | |
|---|---|
 Ajbelj | |
  Ajbelj Location in Slovenia | |
| Coordinates: 45°31′56.51″N 14°51′17.7″E / 45.5323639°N 14.854917°E | |
| Country |  Slovenia |
| Traditional region | Lower Carniola |
| Statistical region | Southeast Slovenia |
| Municipality | Kostel |
| Area | |
• Total | 1.99 km2 (0.77 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 618.4 m (2,029 ft) |
| Population (2002) | |
• Total | 6 |
| Postal code | 1326 |
| [1] | |
Ajbelj (pronounced [ˈaːi̯bəl]; in older sources also Ajbel;[2] German: Aibel,[2][3] also Eibel[4] or Eibl[5]) is a settlement in the Municipality of Kostel in southern Slovenia. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola and is now included in the Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region.[6] It is a linear village standing on a hill above Kaptol. To the southeast is a karst polje with sinkholes where there are tilled fields, hay fields, and wooded land. There are large numbers of wild boar, bears, deer, foxes, and badgers in the area.[7]
Ajbelj was attested in historical sources as Alben and Albenn in 1494;[8] it is recorded in other old records as Alble and is locally known as Vajblen (with prothetic v-).[9] The name is believed to derive from the personal name *Albelj, borrowed from German as a hypocorism of the name Albrecht. The change of the name from Alb- to Ajb- was a dissimilation process (l – ľ > j – ľ) with parallels elsewhere in Slovene.[9] However, Heinz Dieter Pohl derives the identical German oronym Aibel, Eibel from German Alpe 'mountain pasture' via the diminutive forms Älpl, Alpl, Älpele with Middle Bavarian dialect voicing of p and vocalization of l—that is, [áibl].[10]
History
Ajbelj was settled in part by Gottschee Germans.[11] Under feudalism, Ajbelj was part of the Dominion of Kostel. The land registry of 1570 records that the settlement consisted of four full farms. In the past, the economy of Ajbelj was partially tied to peddling goods. In mid-April 1945, Chetnik forces took up positions in the village. They engaged Partisan forces for several days, during which half of the houses in the village were destroyed, before withdrawing north towards Kočevska Reka. The Ajbelj volunteer fire department became a founding unit of the Kočevje municipal fire department on 28 August 1955.[12] In the 1970s the village still relied on cisterns for its water supply and there were three wooden houses with thatched roofs.[7]
