# Delnice

Delnice (Croatian pronunciation:) is a town in western Croatia, the largest settlement in the mountainous region of Gorski Kotar, in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County. The town has a population of 4,379, and total municipality population is 5,952 (2011). Delnice is Gorski Kotar's main town.

## History

The town was first mentioned in a 1482 document issued by Sabor, the Croatian Parliament.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Delnice was a district capital in the Modruš-Rijeka County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia.

### WWII

During WWII, 601 people were killed in the kotar of Delnice, of which 555 by Italians, 28 by Germans, 11 by Serbs and 7 by Croats.$^{:369}$
On 11 April 1941 at around 18:00, a small Wehrmacht column reached Delnice, but apart from one Hitler supporter, one local electritian and two or three county officials, no one welcomed them. Ante Pavelić himself arrived on the 13th, awaited by a small group of Frankists. They asked Pavelić for assistance against some Royal Yugoslav Army soldiers who were in the hills nearby, and received from Pavelić a number of Ustaše in response. More concretely, a large group of Yugoslav soldiers had been retreating from the Italian border through Jelenje, Lokve, Mrkopalj and Jasenak. Upon entering Mrkopalj, they were met by a Croat force belonging to Mačekova zaštita [hr], but the Yugoslav soldiers refused to disarm.$^{:347}$
During the mass arrests of late May and early June, the Ustaša administration of Delnice kotar was more tolerant of Serbs than in the neighbouring Vrbovsko and Ogulin kotars. Tuk Vojni was the only Serbian village in Delnice kotar. The Ustaše had a list of 15 prominent Serbs in Tuk that they needed to arrest, but thanks to JRZ members of Mrkopalj and the notary they were not jailed.$^{:356}$
On 1 July 1941, Pavelić founded the Velika župa Modruš [hr] with its seat in Ogulin, by merging Ogulin with Slunj, Vrbovsko and Delnice.$^{:350}$

## Demographics

The municipality consists of the following settlements:
* Bela Vodica, population 24
* Belo, population 9
* Biljevina, population 4
* Brod na Kupi, population 207
* Crni Lug, population 253
* Čedanj, population 9
* Dedin, population 93
* Delnice, population 4,379
* Donja Krašićevica, no population
* Donje Tihovo, population 5
* Donji Ložac, population 6
* Donji Okrug, population 2
* Donji Turni, no population
* Gašparci, population 15
* Golik, population 16
* Gornja Krašićevica, population 2
* Gornje Tihovo, population 6
* Gornji Ložac, population 10
* Gornji Okrug, population 2
* Gornji Turni, population 13
* Grbajel, population 17
* Guče Selo, population 27
* Gusti Laz, population 4
* Hrvatsko, population 49
* Iševnica, population 9
* Kalić, population 4
* Kočičin, population 1
* Krivac, population 23
* Kupa, population 8
* Kuželj, population 52
* Leska, population 3
* Lučice, population 332
* Mala Lešnica, population 8
* Malo Selo, population 62
* Marija Trošt, population 46
* Plajzi, no population
* Podgora Turkovska, population 8
* Požar, population 8
* Radočaj Brodski, population 40
* Raskrižje Tihovo, population 7
* Razloge, population 8
* Razloški Okrug, population 5
* Sedalce, population 16
* Srednja Krašićevica, no population
* Suhor, no population
* Ševalj, no population
* Turke, population 31
* Velika Lešnica, population 16
* Velika Voda, no population
* Zagolik, no population
* Zakrajc Turkovski, population 2
* Zalesina, population 41
* Zamost Brodski, population 36
* Zapolje Brodsko, population 34
* Zelin Crnoluški, no population
* v

## Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Delnice include:
* Franjo Rački (25 November 1828 – 13 February 1894)
* Ivan Lenac [hr] (6 February 1906 – 24 April 1945)
* Josip Kajfeš [hr] (17 September 1909 – 2 June 1944)
* Branko Pleše (12 January 1915 – 28 March 1980)
* Zdenko Petranović [hr] (8 April 1919 – 21 April 1942)
* Radovan Pavić [hr] (30 May 1933 – 4 May 2020)
* Grga Marjanović (1933 – 2009)
* Franjo Smiljanić [hr] (1 January 1951 – 28 July 2012)

## Climate

Since records began in 1981, the highest temperature recorded at the local weather station was 35.0 °C (95.0 °F), on 3 August 2017. The coldest temperature was −25.0 °C (−13.0 °F), on 8 January 1985.
Between 1992 and 2007, the lowest temperature at the COB station was −20.2 °C (−4.4 °F), on 2 March 2005.
A weather station exists there at an elevation of 735 metres (2,411 ft). The minimum recorded temperature for the winter of 2024–2025 was −11.3 °C (11.7 °F), on February 19th and 20th.

## Transportation

Delnice is well connected to numerous local and national destinations by train and bus. Rijeka (Croatia's third largest city) is half an hour away by road.

## Tourism

The 1.44 kilometres (0.89 mi) long linden avenue on the main street in Delnice was planted in the second half of the 19th century.
The 29,955 square metres (322,430 sq ft) Park kralja Tomislava dates to the beginning of the 20th century, renewed under I. Žigman.
The 171 hectares (420 acres) forest park of Japlenski vrh overlooking Delnice was protected in 1953.
Delnice and the surrounding county of Gorski Kotar's pristine nature offer a plethora of outdoor opportunities for an active vacation. Some of the activities include cycling, mountain climbing, rock climbing, running, hiking, cross-country running, skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, camping, kayaking, river rafting and hunting. Delnice has many shops, bars and restaurants.