Old Photographs Tell Stories - In the Courtyard of Zaprice Castle, c. 1928

In 1919, Josip Knight Schneid von Treuenfeld (1869–1929) became the heir to the Zaprice estate in Kamnik. Following family tradition, after completing grammar school in Ljubljana he went on to study law in Vienna. Dr. Josip Knight Schneid von Treuenfeld first served in Silesia, later becoming a Court Councillor of the Administrative Court in Vienna. He married Juliana, née Michler, from Klopinj (Klopein) in Carinthia (1884–1922). The couple had three children, all born in Vienna: Elisabeth (1913–1964), Margarethe (1914–?), and Josef (1917–?).

The family enjoyed spending their summer holidays at Zaprice Castle, where they mingled with the so-called Zapričani – summer visitors, families of well-known Slovene poets, writers, critics, and other intellectuals who regularly spent their summers at Zaprice during the 1920s and 1930s. In July 1929, the newspaper Jutro reported that as many as thirty summer guests were staying at the castle.

Among them were the families of poet, dramatist, and translator Oton Župančič; writer, theatre critic, and editor Juš Kozak, who began writing his novel Šentpeter here in the summer of 1924; linguist, Romanist, critic, and translator Prof. France Šturm; literary historian, theatre critic, editor, and translator Prof. France Koblar; Dr. Gregorin, a professor of German at Ljubljana’s First State Gymnasium; the Treo family, the Senekovič family, and, from time to time, poet Lily Novy also visited.

The photograph shows a lively group gathered in the castle courtyard around 1928, beside a young linden tree, which still adorns the courtyard today. Seated on the bench, wearing his distinctive cap, is Josip Knight Schneid von Treuenfeld, surrounded by his children as well as the youth and children of the summer visitors.