Bibliophile

Rudolf Maister was also a big fan of books. His enthusiasm for books grew into a well-stocked private library containing almost 6,000 items. He supplemented it wherever he was posted. He always collaborated with booksellers, especially with the Ljubljana publisher and bookseller Lavoslav Schwentner before 1911.

Maister had a comprehensive knowledge of older Slovenian periodicals. After his return from Galicia, his rich library accompanied him to all his places of service. His library was professionally arranged by the literary historian, writer and translator prof. Silva Trdina, who worked in Maribor between 1930 and 1935. Because of the German occupation in 1941, Maister’s descendants moved the library to the premises of their company Mirim in Zagreb. After various complications, however, it was kept in crates until the end of the war.

After the war ended, Maister’s heirs first entrusted it to the Maribor Provincial Museum, and in 1998 with a deed of gift to the University of Maribor Library – Maister’s legacy – UKM. It is an exceptional collection of books and one of the most beautiful private libraries in Slovenia. It is complemented by a portrait of the general, the work of academic sculptor Vlasta Zorko. Today, Maister’s library is arranged as it was in Maister’s apartment at Maistrova ulica 17 in Maribor. Its contents are accessible in a reciprocal catalogue. On 16 November 2018, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia declared General Maister’s Library a cultural monument of national importance.