Life on the border: Rogaška Slatina and Obsotelje as the southeastern border of the German Reich (1941-1945)

The present-day border between Slovenia and Croatia was the most southeastern border of the German Reich during World War II. The course of the border between Germany and the newly formed Independent State of Croatia was roughly determined in May 1941 by an interstate agreement, while a German-Croatian Delimitation Commission was set up to determine the border in the field. The Germans secured the border with a wire fence and minefields. At the most exposed sites, a two-meter high fence with barbed wire on top was erected. Behind the fence, they laid a two to three meters wide concertina fence, erected guard towers and bunkers, and dug trenches - the remains of which are still visible in the landscape today. Border posts were also located in places where special surveillance was needed. The fortification of the border began in October 1942 and was further enforced in the second half of 1944. The defense line was mainly built by forcibly mobilized locals.