History of Rudolf Maister's Birthplace

The present-day house at Šutna no. 16 was created out of two 19th century houses – nos. 16 and 17. After Blaž Svetic’s death in 1859, both houses were inherited by his widow Marija and after her, in 1887, by her son Leopold. The combined houses, sold in 1902 by Leopold at an auction, were bought by the Kamnik Dean, Janez Oblak. In 1920, they both transferred into the ownership of the Kamnik Parish Office. After World War Two, the property was nationalised and in the 1990s returned to its original owner. In 1938 the whole building was renovated and a memorial plaque to General Maister was unveiled on one of its walls. In 2012, the Kamnik municipality and Parish Office agreed ownership shares and the municipality became the owner of a large part of the ground floor. They renovated the ground floor in 2012 and 2017. In 2013, the first part of Rudolf Maister’s Birthplace was opened, and the second part in 2018.

Proposals to renovate the building once more appeared even before 1990, when the house was the property of the Municipality of Kamnik and plans for this continued after the house was returned to the Kamnik Parish Office. During 2002 and 2003 modification of the load-bearing structure was carried out and the roofing was replaced. In 2004, the facade work was in its final stages and the house once more acquired its 19th century appearance. The interior was renovated following instructions from the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, revealing wall paintings from the first and second halves of the 19th century. The renovation and creation of the museum setting was carried out and financed by the Municipality of Kamnik. Rudolf Maister’s Birthplace is a separate branch of the Inter-municipal Museum Kamnik.