The population of Partizánska Ľupča, a village in northern Slovakia, has been slowly decreasing over the years. According to one resident, “Although we are a large village—huge—we have many empty houses. There isn’t much occupancy here…. I think that people left for the cities.” There are many reasons for this exodus, including better-paid work and new apartment buildings in the cities. More children now go to school in neighboring towns, and the utilities that once supported the village are dwindling. As one local put it, “When I was little, there was a doctor, a dentist, a bank, a tailor—everything was here. Now we have nothing but a doctor who is only for adults, and he is only here once a week…. We have to commute to another village or city for everything.”
Partizánska Ľupča is a village on the peripheries of modern Slovakia. Buses that were once hourly now come just a few times a day. But the roads are still busy. Commuters who work in the nearby city of Žilina and larger towns share lanes with trucks carrying lumber from the forests. The village’s old kindergarten building has become a retirement center, but young children are now looked after in a newly remodeled kindergarten. There are fewer young families, yet the school still teaches 150 pupils. For its residents, Partizánska Ľupča remains the center of daily life.
In 2023, the Nanovic Institute launched a pilot study as part of its research interest in “peripheries.” In partnership with Catholic University in Ružomberok, Slovakia, the project is an effort to study marginalized places and communities within Europe. Coordinating this initiative is Dr. Marek Babic, associate professor in the Department of History at Catholic University in Ružomberok and visiting scholar at the Nanovic Institute for the 2024-25 academic year.
Slovakia, as Babic describes it, is “a small but beautiful country,” and in the context of the European Union, it may be seen as peripheral by some. Yet Slovakia also contains many peripheries within itself, one of which is Partizánska Ľupča. Nestled in the country’s mountainous north, Partizánska Ľupča has a long and complex history. In the medieval period, it was a royal city sustained by a strong gold-mining industry. By the middle of the 19th century, it was home to 3,500 people, but it declined to 1,300 by the end of the 20th century. Only 1,314 live there today (according to 2021 figures). Once an economic and political center, it has moved to the margins. However, its history has also made it a diverse community in a predominantly Catholic region. The village once had a sizable Jewish population, who were forcibly displaced during World War II. Nearly half of the current population is Protestant, and the village boasts three churches (two Catholic and one Protestant), with another Catholic church in nearby Magurka, an impressive number for such a small population.
The Research
In 2023, Babic and his colleagues in Slovakia conducted 25 interviews with residents of Partizánska Ľupča to understand their perspectives on the place and identity of the village over its history. The researchers wanted to understand the culture of memory-making in the village: how residents remember the past, and what they hope for in the future. The interviewees were asked about the history of the village, its resilience, and how it has adapted to changing circumstances. The team had a few criteria in mind when selecting the participants: They wanted a range of stakeholders in the village, including the mayor, shop workers, and a priest. Demographically, they represented an equal split of young and old, men and women, and a range of education levels. In addition to these interviews, the researchers created a database of photographic documents of Partizánska Ľupča and its surroundings. Combining original photographs with archival material, the project builds up a detailed picture of the village’s central square, its churches, shops, and houses, as well as the popular spa resort that now occupies the defunct mine a few miles to the north.
"It is easier to control things here, we all know each other here, which is sometimes good, but also very bad. We have it under control here."
The research team is currently working on a monograph on Partizánska Ľupča. Using historical sources and other scholarly works, the book will chronicle the village’s rich history through the Middle Ages and into the 21st century. As Babic notes, “Special emphasis is placed on the most recent period, which has not yet been explored.” Existing monographs on the village have not covered its history after the collapse of the Soviet Union or the Velvet Revolution (when the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was dismantled) in 1989. The interviews and documentary work of the project will play a major role in recording the recent history of Partizánska Ľupča.
Centering the Peripheries
A common challenge met by social scientists is how to work with a community on academic research without exploiting that community. To address this concern, the research team will publish their monograph in Slovak, so that the community can access the information. Before publication, the village’s mayor and pastor will be able to read it and provide feedback. When published, the monograph’s first half will document the village’s history and geography, but the second part will present and analyze the interviews conducted with Partizánska Ľupča’s residents. After publication, tentatively scheduled for May 2025, the team will return to the village to present their findings directly to the community.
Reflecting on the project, Babic expressed his desire to undertake similar research in the future. The people of Partizánska Ľupča were friendly and proud of their home’s royal history. Despite its relatively small size, the village has a packed calendar, from artisanal folk markets to regular church concerts to the internationally-renowned Utgard medieval festival. Residents value the upbringing that they can give their children. As one interviewee said, “There are mountains here, the children can run outside. The village is more acceptable to me than the city, where I would fear for the children. There are fewer pitfalls in the village than in the city. It is easier to control things here, we all know each other here, which is sometimes good, but also very bad. We have it under control here.”
The project revealed that, overall, the villagers are proud of their home and its storied history. It has seen many things: royal patronage in the 13th century, influxes of settlers from Germany and elsewhere in Europe, Slovakia’s Communist regime, and its integration into the European Union in 2004. For all this and more, the researchers found a deep local pride. As Babic and his team put it, “the population consider their village to be a good place to live and believe that young people will continue to return to their homeland and others will come who will appreciate the natural, geographical and cultural benefits of Partizánska Ľupča, which together create all the conditions for a dignified life.”