Unec

Matilda Tomšič, Maister’s mother’s sister, married Lovro Sebenikar, a postal clerk and restaurant owner, in Rakek in 1875. Little Rudolf would visit them with his mother and older brother Ernest. Ernest died of tuberculosis in Rakek in 1897. In 1903, the Sebenikars bought an estate in Unec. Rudolf often visited his aunt, also a writer, and his uncle Lovro, his guardian after his father’s early death. In his mature years, he spent his holidays on the estate with his family. Here he arranged a collection of old documents, set up his own private library and wrote poetry – Poet.

He died on 26 July 1934 in Unec. The estate was inherited by Maister’s sons Hrvoj and Borut. The heirs sold the estate to the Unec Metal Industry (Kovinska Industrija Unec). The company demolished the house in 1989 and built a new one, similar to the old one, on its foundations.

General Maister is today commemorated by a memorial plaque on the house in Unec. Maister’s persona is also preserved by the General Maister Notranjska Patriotic Society Unec and the General Maister’s Dragoons choir. Among the locals, the stories of a young Austro-Hungarian officer, who took part in military exercises with his unit from Klagenfurt in the Bistrica and Pivka regions in the summer of 1902, are passed down from generation to generation. They also speak of how this young officer sought out old books and objects across the Notranjska region.

There is a memorial plaque on a grave in a nearby cemetery, where the general’s mother Frančiška, who moved in with her sister as a widow, Matilda Sebenikar, her husband Lovro and their son Adolf are buried.