Faces Behind the Walls of History

What happens to people when the course of history is abruptly broken?

With the First World War and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, many experienced the end of an old world and its established order. The fall of the Habsburg monarchy also marked the end of the traditional way of life of the nobility.

In 1919, the nobility was formally abolished as a legal estate. The loss of emperor and empire severed a centuries-long bond with the dynasty and monarchy that the Auerspergs had faithfully served. The nobility suffered its final blow. It became a relic of a fading era. Members of noble families, who were predominantly German speaking, found themselves outsiders, foreigners in newly formed states built on national identities.

Even in these circumstances, Turjak retained its residential function. The family continued to maintain its traditions of upbringing and preserved its customs and holidays. After 1918, its members attempted to continue life in familiar ways, which in the new reality meant living in relative isolation from their surroundings.

The Auersperg brothers in the uniforms of the Royal Yugoslav Army, 1938. Kept by the Auersperg family, Reideben.

In the shadow of the linden tree, before 1939. Kept by the Auersperg family, Reideben.

A young man and a monkey in front of the castle entrance. Kept by the Auersperg family, Reideben.

The Auersperg children in front of the entrance, around 1923. Kept by the Auersperg family, Reideben.

Members of the extended Auersperg family in the castle courtyard, late 1920s. Kept by the Auersperg family, Reideben.

Count Adolf Auersperg and his wife Bianca. Kept by the Auersperg family, Reideben.

Countess Marie with her children, mid-1930s. Kept by the Auersperg family, Reideben.

Count Herward and his wife Marie-Edith (far right); between them stands Enrica, while Gisela Beatrice sits on Herward’s shoulders. Kept by the Auersperg family, Reideben.

Jupi, the family's St Bernard, did not survive the battle at Turjak Castle. Kept by Eugen Müller-Dithenhof, Munich.

Count Herward Auersperg and his wife Countess Marie Auersperg (née Adamovich de Csepin), around 1911. Kept by the Auersperg family, Reideben.

A rare photographs of the entire interwar generation of the Turjak Auersperg family, around 1922. Kept by the Auersperg family, Reideben.

Count Herward in the hallway of the castle's west wing. Kept by the Auersperg family, Reideben.

Faces Behind the Walls of History

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