The Knaus family

“Zuagrast” and rising with a pioneering spirit

Johann Knaus' store on the main square in St. Veit: this is where the Knaus family's rise began.

(Bild: Stadt St. Veit Lorenz Nussbaumer)

Developments in trade, art and science based on one family: aha moments are guaranteed at the St. Veit Museum!

The building on St. Veit's main square is large and houses a railroad, model trains, driving simulator, motorization, gendarmerie, post office and telecommunications as well as the town's history with Trabanten, Goldhaubenfrauen, the St. Veit circle around Mulle, Glawischnig and Mittergradnegger and an extraordinary collection of baroque shooting targets. In comparison, the special exhibition room seems small, but the history presented there, including the stories, is magnificent.

100 years after the store opened, the advertising emphasizes the "real" supply: "In good times and bad, Joh. Knaus always supplies the kitchen, farm and house, good and real".

(Bild: Alexander Wojda)

Using a lineage of the Knaus family, museum director Stefan Regenfelder and his deputy Michael Jaritz show the changes in business, science and art in the century from 1836.

In that year, Johann Knaus bought the property at the current address of Hauptplatz 11 in St. Veit - also with the help of the fortune of his first wife Elisabeth, who died a few years later.

Dynamic: Hermann Knaus on a skiing vacation in front of the Matterhorn.

(Bild: Museum für Verhütung und Schwangerschaftsabbruch Wien)

Knaus was born in 1808 in Gottschee in what is now Slovenia. The Gottscheer people had a license to trade as peddlers, Knaus also had contacts to good southern fruits, and so he opened his business in Carinthia. "Things weren't going well economically in St. Veit at the time. There were no more privileges in the iron trade, the population had halved, there was a devastating town fire in 1829 - but for pioneers like Johann Knaus, it was a time of reconstruction," explains historian Regenfelder.

We also show bridal letters, Johann Knaus' traditional costume belt and Magdalena's gold hood, as she was a founding member.

Stefan Regenfelder, Leiter des Museums St. Veit

Johann had nine children with his second wife Magdalena; the youngest son Fritz later noted that "a shed had to be built in the back room with strong wooden slats and my father was regrettably locked in there for several weeks under strict supervision". Johann Knaus was mentally ill and died at the age of 63.

Richard Knaus drew this view of the main square. He had studied painting in Graz and Düsseldorf, was successful as an artist, traveled abroad and worked in Carinthia.

(Bild: Stadt St. Veit)

Magdalena continued to run the business. The strong woman attributed her long life - she lived to the age of 90 - to the glass of sugared red wine she regularly drank through a lovage tube. Her son Jakob became a textile merchant and imported sewing machines from America.

Descendants of the Knaus family provided material, and we can also show many historical photos digitally.

Michael Jaritz, stellvertretender Museumsleiter

Jakob's brother Fritz made the leap from grocer to merchant. "He delivered grain as far as South Tyrol, traded in horses, bought a wagon of coffee and roasted it in St. Veit, thus opening a coffee roasting plant. He also set up a vinegar factory. A pioneering spirit! He was also active in several associations, co-founded some and was also the founder of the 'Localmuseum', the predecessor of our museum," says Regenfelder. "Fritz was a second-generation immigrant; he was very well respected in the economic, social and cultural life of the town, already a member of the local council at the age of 25, then deputy mayor - and a very successful businessman," summarizes the museum director.

The museum of the town of St. Veit on the main square.

(Bild: Museum Stadt St. Veit)

As behind every strong man is a strong woman, behind Fritz was his Amlie: she brought up nine children, worked in the business and looked after the accommodation and meals of mostly 30 employees.

Museum on the main square in St. Veit

Museum St. Veit with special exhibition "The rise of the Knaus family - a century in trade, art and science": on display until October 31; 9am-12pm and 2pm-5pm, in July and August from 9am to 5pm. Info: https://www.museum-stveit.at

Fritz's son Richard became famous as a painter. Richard's brother Hermann is still known to every doctor today: the gynaecologist was a scientist at the universities in London, Cambridge and Paris, ran the University Women's Clinic in Prague, helped the politician Karel Schwarzenberg into the world as a high society gynaecologist and developed the Knaus-Ogino method of contraception, named after him and a Japanese doctor, which calculates the fertile days.

"In 1917, Hermann Knaus was honored with the Order of the Iron Crown 3rd Class for saving an airplane pilot and himself when he climbed out after a shell hit to balance the plane and thus make a landing possible. With the medal, he was entitled to attend court balls and be called a well-born gentleman. We have the medal in the display case," says Regenfelder.