Municipality of Šmarje pri Jelšah, Municipality in Lower Styria, Slovenia.

Sankt Marein bei Erlachstein, known in Slovene as Šmarje pri Jelšah, is the main settlement of its municipality in the Lower Styria region. It lies in the valley of the Šmarski potok stream between the Voglajna and Zgornje Sotelsko hills, where vineyards cover the sunny slopes. The surrounding area is part of the Šmarje–Virštanj wine road.

The place was originally part of a larger judicial district comprising several neighboring areas. Following World War One, it became part of Yugoslavia in 1919.

The place carries a dual identity reflected in its two names, Šmarje pri Jelšah and Sankt Marein bei Erlachstein, which show how Slovene and German-speaking communities shaped the region. This bilingual heritage remains visible today in local traditions and how residents refer to their home.

The municipality lies in the Šmarski potok valley between the Voglanjsko and Zgornjesotelsko hills, with the wine road Šmarje–Virštanj running through the vineyards on the sunny slopes. The pilgrimage church of St Roch on Kalvarienberg near Predenca is reached by a path lined with 14 Stations of the Cross chapels.

The municipality's landscape is shaped by Tertiary marl and limestone, with small patches of Triassic keratophyre and keratophyre tuff found only at Kamenik. The area lies among Slovenia's more earthquake-prone regions; the last larger quake struck in 1974. Vineyards on sun-facing slopes around Sladka Gora, Brecljevo and Vršna vas are favoured by drier autumns than in western Slovenia.