Boundary stones on the border between the Duchy of Styria and the Kingdom of Hungary

Abstract

Boundary stones are physical markers that identify land borders and above all changes thereto. They are often placed in particularly visible places and inscribed with various kinds of relevant information. They are used for marking borders between countries or between various levels of administrative units within countries as well as for delimiting private landholdings. In the territory of the former Habsburg Monarchy, one can locate many boundary stones that, for example, marked the boundaries of seigniorial, dominical, and church estates as well as administrative and provincial borders. This contribution presents the latter, that is, boundary stones that marked the “Slovenian” section of the border which separated the Duchy of Styria and the Kingdom of Hungary until the end of the First World War, with a particular focus on the wider area of the Municipality of Ljutomer. Although these boundary stones no longer serve their original purpose, in some areas they still coincide with municipal and cadastral boundaries.