Vas Podstence ali Steinwand je svoje ime dobila po strmi steni, vas leži v Kočevskem rogu, prostranem gozdu na višini 595m. Vas je bila ustanovljena 1580, prva omemba kraja pa je bila 1614. Leta 1869 je bilo v vasi 18 hiš in 85 prebivalcev, večina je bila nemcev med njimi pa je bilo tudi nekaj slovencev. Za tako majhno vas so imeli nenavadno veliko vodnjakov, 8 jih je še danes bolj ali manj ohranjenih. Vas Podstenice je imela dvojezično šolo, parno žago, gostilno, gozdarsko upravo in vilo kneza Auersperga.
Do decembra 1941 so tu živeli predvsem Kočevarji, naselje pa je bilo med Roško ofenzivo 1942 s strani italijanov požgano in porušeno. Vas je bila pomembna partizanska točka, v bližini pa je bila tudi bolnica in tehnična postojanka. Večina prebivalcev je bilo med vojno izseljenih.
Po vojni so nemški vojni ujetniki zgradili gozdarsko hišo (danes poznano kot čebelarski dom), v muzeju je med drugim tudi maketa izgleda nakdanje vasi. Muzej si je mogoče ogledati po predhodnem dogovoru.
V vasi danes ni več stalnih prebivalcev, razen dveh mačk, ki pa jih boste morada opazili med iskanjem zaklada.
EN:
The village Podstence or Steinwand got its name from the steep wall, the village lies in Kočevski rog, a vast forest at an altitude of 595m. The village was founded in 1580, and the first mention of the place was in 1614. In 1869 there were 18 houses and 85 inhabitants in the village, most of them Germans, but some of them were Slovenes. For such a small village they had an unusually large number of wells, 8 of which are still more or less preserved today. The village of Podstenice had a bilingual school, a steam sawmill, an inn, a forestry administration and the villa of Prince Auersperg.
Until December 1941, mostly Kočevar people lived here, the settlement was burned and destroyed by the Italians during the 1942 Roška offensive. The village was an important partisan point, there was also a hospital and a technical outpost nearby. Most of the inhabitants were evicted during the war.
After war, German prisoners of war built a forestry house (now known as a beehive), in beehive is today museum in it you can see a model of the appearance of a former village. The museum can be visited by prior arrangement.
There are no more permanent residents in the village today, except for two cats, which you might spot while searching for the geocache.