Maribor (historical German name: lang: Marburg an der Drau) is the second largest city in Slovenia. The population of Maribor is approximately 133,000 . Maribor lies on the river Drava at the meeting point of the Pohorje mountain, the Drava Valley, the Drava Plain, and the Kozjak and Slovenske gorice hill ranges. It is the center of the Slovenian region of Lower Styria and its largest city. Maribor Airport is the second largest international airport in Slovenia. The nearest larger urban center is Graz in Austria which is about 60 km (40 miles) away.

Maribor's coat of arms features a white pigeon flying downwards above a white castle with two towers and a portcullis on a red shield.

History

In 1164 a castle known as the Marchburch (Middle High German for "March Castle") was documented in Styria. Maribor was first mentioned as a market near the castle in 1204, and received town privileges in 1254. It began to grow rapidly after the victory of Rudolf I of Habsburg over Otakar II of Bohemia in 1278. Maribor withstood sieges by Matthias Corvinus in 1480 and 1481 and by the Ottoman Empire in 1532 and 1683, and the city remained under the control of the Habsburg Monarchy until 1918.

Before the First World War, the city had a population of 80% Germans and 20% Slovenes, and most of the city's capital and public life was in German control. Therefore, it was mainly known by its German name lang: Marburg an der Drau. According to the last Austro-Hungarian census in 1910, Maribor and the suburbs Studenci (Brunndorf), Pobrežje (Pobersch), Tezno (Thesen), Radvanje (Rothwein), Krčevina (Kartschowin), and Košaki (Leitersberg) were composed of 31,995 Germans (including Jews) and 6,151 ethnic Slovenes. The wider surrounding area was populated almost exclusively by Slovenes, although many Germans lived in smaller towns like Ptuj.

During World War I, many Slovenes in Carinthia and Styria were detained for allegedly being enemies of the Austrian Empire, which led to further conflicts between German Austrians and Slovenes. After the collapse of Austria-Hungary, Maribor was claimed by both the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and by German Austria. On November 1 1918, a meeting was held by Colonel Anton Holik in Melje's barracks, where it was determined the city would be part of German Austria. Ethnic Slovene major Rudolf Maister, who was present at the meeting, renounced the decision. He was awarded the rank of General by the National Council for (Slovenian) Styria on the same day and organized Slovenian military units in Maribor to successfully take control of the city. All German soldiers and officers were demobilized and sent home to new German Austria. The city council held a secret meeting where a decision was taken to do whatever possible to gain Maribor for German Austria. They organized a military unit, the so-called Green Guard (Schutzwehr). The approximately 400 well-armed soldiers of this ethnic German-Austrian unit threatened pro-Slovenian and pro-Yugoslav major Maister, leading the Slovenian troops to disarm them in the early morning of November 23. Thereafter there was no real threat to the authority of Maister in the city.