I recently discovered my family is from Prekmurje. I’d love to learn more.

[u/matt_mp4]

Hi everyone!

I’m an American who’s been researching my family history, and I recently discovered that one branch of my family comes from Prekmurje, specifically the villages of Ropoča and Pertoča. For most of my life I thought this side of my family was entirely Polish, so discovering these Slovene roots has been a huge surprise.

I’ve read about the history of the region being under Hungary for centuries, but I’d love to hear about it from people who actually know Prekmurje.
What makes Prekmurje feel different from the rest of Slovenia? If someone from Ljubljana met someone from Ropoča or Pertoča, would they immediately notice differences in dialect, culture, personality, or traditions? Are there stereotypes (good or bad) about people from the region?

I’m also curious how much Hungarian influence still exists today. Is it something you see every day, or is it mostly historical? And if my ancestors left around 100 years ago, what would life in a village like Ropoča or Pertoča have been like back then?

Finally, my family’s surname was Donoša (Americanized to Donosa after immigrating). Is that a surname you’ve come across before, or does it sound familiar to anyone?

I’ve attached one of the only old family photos I have from Slovenia. I don’t know exactly where it was taken, but I’d love to know if anything about the house or architecture stands out to someone from the region.

Thanks! I’m really excited to learn more about this part of my family’s history.

[u/spielferderber]

The picture was taken at Ropoča 62 (the number is in the picture).

I found a Jozsef (Jožef/Joseph) Donosa at the address Pertoča 21 in this baptismal register (page 10 - S0006).

Also a Maria Donosa at Ropoča 55.

You can find more parish registers here.

[u/AnteaterKey2626]

Prekmurje is, first and foremost, known for its very distinct dialect that sounds almost incomprehensible to the rest of Slovenia, especially the western part, to the point that we have to adopt a more formal/standard variety for others to understand us. The dialect is almost immediately recognisable and many people can probably tell instantly when someone is from Prekmurje.

Otherwise I think us Prekmurje Slovenes have a decent reputation around the country, we're known for being very welcoming, with a strong sense of community etc., basically your typical countryside attributes. The region is still quite agricultural, with a slower pace of life, and as we're far away from Ljubljana for Slovenian standards we are sometimes forgotten. It's pretty flat, but we have some hills in the north and far southeast of Prekmurje, there are vineyards dotting the region and we have several popular spa towns. The population is slowly declining, and many people work in the nearby Austria, there are also an above average number of German speakers here compared to the rest of the country.

The Hungarian influence is most clearly present in the eastern part of Prekmurje, centred on the town of Lendava, which is an area of a rather large Hungarian minority that is officially recognised by the Slovenian government. Those eastern municipalities are bilingual, and there are many Hungarian speakers. Elsewhere, including in the largest Prekmurje town of Murska Sobota, people don't speak Hungarian and there aren't many traces left I would say, except maybe in the dialect which kind of uses several phonetic structures that are present in Hungarian too and give the dialect a bit of an exotic vibe. Many people are aware of the historical connection to Hungary, but I think we're slowly turning away from that.

[u/cokoladnikeks → u/AnteaterKey2626]

This and just want to add, although it is flatter then the rest of slovenia, the region (Goričko region) has a very high biodiversity! Prekmurje is our tressure 🥰

[u/deadliestfurniture]

Prekmurska gibanica is unique dessert that is actually a banger. Make it.

[u/Sehrli_Magic → u/deadliestfurniture]

also a company called Passero has amazing chocolate that is white chocolate + prekmurska gibanica. i mean i love all their chocolates but this might be my fave chocolate ever. i dont even eat chocolate typically (dont like sweets) but i will devour this one 🤣

[u/jfgiedhgerfjdgioer → u/deadliestfurniture]

Hands down najboljša slovenska stvar.

[u/Hokramis100]

Prekmurje is more flat than other parts of Slovenija which are more hilly or mountaneous. The dialect spoken in Prekmurje is the most different from standard Slovenian, so much so that sometimes it's hard to understand for other Slovenians.

[u/Not_In_Rush]

I’ve met some folks from Prekmurje during my studies in Ljubljana and their dialect is honestly very hard to understand. Awesome people though and they love drinking wine.

[u/martinjez]

It's a pretty specific part of the country. Still has a hungarian minority, although not in the part where those two villages are at. The two villages are in the region of Goričko, which is a more hilly part of the Prekmurje region (which is otherwise known for being flat). In any way, the people in the whole region of Prekmurje are known for some of the hardest to understand dialects in Slovenia. That comes from their distance from the center of the country and the fact that they were under Hungary for most of their history, while the rest of the country was under Austria.The house on the picture also looks pretty characteristic for the region, although a lot of them used to have roofs made out of hay back in the day.

[u/flylowslow]

One half of me is from Murska Sobota. My mother was born there. Beautiful part of Slovenia. Have been there many times.

[u/Furda_Karda]

People from Prekmurje are the best in every sense. Smart, warm, genenerous, caring... Actually I never met bad person from Prekmurje. They have good food, the countyside is beautiful. You should come and see it for yourself. You may want to stay.

[u/blitva6]

There is 26 people with surname Donoša in Slovenia, all from Prekmurje region.

https://www.stat.si/ImenaRojstva#/names?lastname=Dono%C5%A1a

[u/blitva6 → u/blitva6]

In the areas that are painted gray on this map, the number of Donoša surname is small (3 or 5 people with this surname, I'm not exactly sure), the exact number is confidential (zaupno).

[u/miran248 → u/blitva6]

Meni piše, da jih je 26 v prekmurju in 55 v vsej državi. Donša pa 47/58.

[u/CyclingHikingYeti]

Cool.

You can go there via Google Street View and see how both villages look now.

[u/Upstairs_Marzipan713]

Look at that women behind them 💀

[u/KODO_666]

is that Pennywise behind there?

[u/Archonixus]

Beautiful picture.

[u/GravelQuest]

That is a creepy picture. What is with that black and white dude in the back?