Dvor is a village in the municipality of Žužemberk. It took its name from the mansion (SL ‘dvor’ or ‘dvorec’) built by the Counts von Auersperg. The village spans over the left bank of the Krka river. The first church to be recorded in official documents in 1168 was the gothic church of St George (Sv. Jurij) which is why the village was first called Šentjur (derived from Sv. Jurij) or Jurjevo. The first written records of the village date to 1383 and its first landowners were the Counts Wagensperg that later sold their lands to the Auerspergs. The latter tried to establish their ironworks at Dvor but were prevented from doing so by the owner of the nearby Zagradec ironworks, Ivan Jurij Toman.

In the Krka valley people dealt in iron-working from the pre-Roman times to the end of the 19^th century. The Dvor ironworks were one of the biggest industries in the 19^th century Dolenjska. Their founders were the Auerspergs who got the rights to set up the ironworks and the smelting furnace in 1763. However, the decisive role for the development of the iron foundry went to Ignac Pantz, who became director in 1822. Besides manufacturing various devices for the industry and construction, the foundry also made more artistic objects such as candle holders, decorative plates, iron cast coat of arms, furnaces, burial crosses, fountains and bridges. In 1891, the iron foundry closed its doors due to severe competition and immense production cost. Luckily it was monumented by dr. Matija Žargi, who wrote a detailed research and literary paper on the iron foundry’s remarkable technical achievements.