Coat of arms of the Wurzbach-Tannenberg family in Preddvor
PREDDVOR, CEMETERY
Location of the coat of arms: tomb
The Wurzbachs were (and are) a very ramified family. The so-called Preddvor line obtained its name from Preddvor Mansion (Höflein), which Maximilian III von Wurzbach (1844–1920) purchased from Victor Urbantschitsch in 1897. Imitating the example of the Urbantschitsch family, he built a mausoleum near St. Peter’s Church, where he was the first to be buried. The mausoleum has been preserved to the present day, along with the Wurzbach (schematic) coat of arms, displayed above the tombstone.
Following Maximilian’s death (1920), the manor passed into the hands of his son Arthur, who quickly squandered the inherited fortune. In the summer of 1932, he took his own life in the castle park, leaving his family in dire financial difficulties. Four years later, the district court in Kranj announced a forced auction of the thirty-room manor with a park, an outbuilding, and a few plots of land. The estate, which measured slightly more than two hectares, was appraised at over 450,000 dinars. Arthur and his wife Margit Rizzi, also dubbed bonne maman, produced four sons, whose descendants now live outside Slovenia but pay frequent visits to Preddvor.
Sources:
Rugále, Mariano & Preinfalk, Miha: Blagoslovljeni in prekleti. 1. del: Plemiške rodbine 19. in 20. stoletja na Slovenskem. Ljubljana: Viharnik, 2009, pp. 203–216.