Ormož


Ormož is a town in the traditional region of Prlekija, part of Styria, in northeastern Slovenia. It lies on the left bank of the Drava River and borders with Croatia on the opposite bank of the river. It is the administrative seat of the Municipality of Ormož.

Name

Ormož was attested in written records in 1273 as Holermůs. The name is based on the Latinized name Alramus, borrowed from Germanic Alram. The person designated by the name is uncertain, but a possible namesake is Salzburg Bishop A(da)lram because the Ormož area became the property of the Archbishopric of Salzburg in the ninth century.

History

The settlement received market rights in 1293 and town rights in 1331, and it was predominantly known under its German name, Friedau. Until 1919, the population was predominantly German; the census of 1900 mentioned 892 inhabitants, with German as the predominant spoken language followed by Slovenian.

Church

The parish church in the town is dedicated to Saint James. It was first mentioned in written sources dated to 1271. It was rebuilt on a number of occasions in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. It contains frescos from the 14th and 17th centuries.

Geography

Lake Ormož, a reservoir on the Drava River, is located just outside the town. Next to the reservoir, there is a nature reserve, the Ormož Lagoons, consisting of six former retention basins that served the now-defunct sugar refinery in Ormož. After the closure of the sugar refinery, the six retention basins transformed into a marsh and became an important habitat for birds, including some endangered species of migratory birds. The landscape north of Ormož is hilly, with many forests and vineyards. The empties into the Drava just west of Ormož, and flows to the east of the town.

Notable natives and residents