# Mrkopalj

Mrkopalj (pronounced) is a village and a municipality in the mountainous part of Croatia in the region of Gorski Kotar, located south-east of Delnice and some 50 km east of Rijeka and 831 meters above sea level.

## History

On 14 February 1776, the Severin County [hr] was created by Maria Theresa, named after Severin, with Karlovac as its capital, although county assemblies were sometimes held in Mrkopalj or Rijeka. It was created after a 1765 decree called for the restoration of the ancient Vinodol County. It was abolished on 20 March 1786 by Joseph II.
On 11 April 1941, the new NDH authorities made Mrkopalj-born Lovro Sušić [hr], a Frankist, administrator of the kotar of Ogulin.$^{:349}$
When Ante Pavelić arrived in Delnice on 13 April 1941, he was awaited by a small group of Frankists. Along with Ravna Gora and Vrbovsko, Mrkopalj was one of the only places in Gorski Kotar that already had Ustaše. 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.$^{:347,350}$
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 9 June, Lovro Sušić, by that time Minister of People's Economy, wrote to in Hrvatski narod, "We don't want a bloody cleansing," (Croatian: Nećemo krvavog čišćenja) but "the Serbs must move" (Croatian: Srbi moraju seliti).$^{:351}$

## Demographics

In the 2011 census, the municipality had 1,214 inhabitants, in the following settlements:
* v
* v

## Climate

A weather station exists there at an elevation of 825 metres (2,707 ft), although under a shelter that compromises the applicability to surroundings. The minimum recorded temperature for the winter of 2024–2025 was −16.2 °C (2.8 °F), on February 20th.

### Villages

* Begovo Razdolje, population 48
* Brestova Draga, population 53
* Mrkopalj, population 755
* Sunger, population 326
* Tuk Mrkopaljski, population 4
* Tuk Vojni, population 28
In the same census, over 98% of the population were Croats.

## Industry

Mrkopalj was once a relatively important trading town in the Gorski Kotar highlands, where timber and sheep are the main resources.
Mountain snow sports are popular.

## Coat of arms

Emperor Joseph II granted the coat of arms and the status of a free royal market town in 1785. The grant of arms is similar in style with others granted in the period, including the aquarel picture of the coat of arms within a ring containing the inscription (thus making it a seal) and set in a baroque scene with mountains, angel broquate covers, coats of arms of selected Habsburg lands.
The shield is party per fess chief per pale: first chequy gules and argent, second or a lamb passant below a fir tree vert trunked proper issuant from a base also vert, and third azure five cliff spikes argent. The modern community adopted (around 1995) the same coat of arms in a modernized artistic rendition as required by regulations.
The decision on adoption of the coat of arms for Mrkopalj, and the flag was adopted on 12 March 1998 and this was issued in the official gazette in May 1998: Odluka o grbu i zastavi Opcine Mrkopalj, 12.03.1998, Službene novine Primorsko-goranske županije, br. 11/98, 29. svibnja 1998.
The flag is dark blue with the coat of arms bordered yellow in the middle.

## Notable residents

* Lovro Sušić [hr], Ustaša politician
* Jakov Fak, Olympic biathlete
* Nada Birko, Olympic cross-country skier

## In popular culture

American author Jennifer Wilson's 2011 non-fiction book, Running Away to Home: Our Family's Journey to Croatia in Search of Who We Are, Where We Came From, and What Really Matters, takes place in Mrkopalj. She and her husband and two children spent seven months in the village, to reconnect to her immigrant maternal grandparents' relatives and culture.

## Gallery

* Viewed from Kosa
* Gravel road
* Near Matić poljana