The market town of Šoštanj according to the first population census of 1754

Abstract

Until the redrawing of diocesan boundaries under the Josephinian reforms, the parish of Šoštanj belonged to the Diocese of Ljubljana, the only one for which the source material for the first population census of 1754 has been almost fully preserved. This makes the market town of Šoštanj one of the nineteen market town and town settlements in Slovenian territory for which there exists a full name list of the population from the above-mentioned year. The article publishes the census of Šoštanj’s population by combining the Slovenian translation and the German original. It discusses some aspects of the demographic structure and points to the possibilities for more in-depth studies that should also more intensively draw on other available demographic sources in the future.