Each to their own: Na poti k dokončni nacionalni razmejitvi na Spodnjem Štajerskem v 19. stoletju

At the turn of the 19th century the concept of national identity was still unknown. For a long time after the beginning of the 19th century the identity of the population remained tied to provinces at the most, while among the peasant population it was even completely local. The Slavs from Lower Styria may have been aware that they were not German, but they did not feel any connections with the Carinthian or Carniolan Slavs. On the other hand the Lower Styrian bourgeoisie were (regardless of their origins) primarily Styrian and local patriotic, and they spoke both German and Slovenian, according to their everyday needs and without any national identity