Przemyśl
The city of Przemyśl was a commercial and military centre and a major transportation hub along the San River, with important roads, railways and bridges connecting the cities of Krakow and Lviv. The fortified city, which became an important military centre at the end of the 19th century, was surrounded by numerous fortifications that guarded the transit junction and the eastern borders of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.
On 1 November 1908, Rudolf Maister was transferred to the 18th Imperial-Royal Infantry Regiment in Przemyśl (K. k. 18. Landwehrinfanterieregiment Przemyśl) – From cadet to general. The regiment was formed on 1 May 1889, and it was made up of 55% Polish and 45% Ruthenian soldiers. He commanded battalions in the towns of Przemyśl and Sanok. According to biographers, Maister was transferred to Przemyśl for disciplinary reasons. His transfer coincided with interethnic tensions in Slovenia, which culminated in soldiers of the Graz 27th Infantry Regiment shooting at protesters and fatalities in Ljubljana.
Maister first lived alone at the address Srednia 5 and was joined in Przemyśl eight months later by his family and his mother. They lived in a rented villa in the city centre at Dworskiego 62. He remained culturally active in Przemyśl – Cultural worker – and his home became a real refuge for Slovenians. On 1 May 1910, he was promoted to the rank of captain and in autumn of 1912 became commander of the non-commissioned officers’ school. Due to pneumonia and pleurisy, he was treated and convalesced in 1913 in Dalmatia and at the Helwan therapeutic springs near Cairo in Egypt. On 1 November 1913, after six months of rehabilitation leave, he was transferred to Celje as a Landsturm officer. On 7 December 1914, he was assigned to the command of the 26th Landsturm regiment in Maribor.
