About the museum

In 1752, Count Leopold Karl Lamberg began building a typical Baroque mansion. Due to the stylistic characteristics of the building, its design is attributed to the architect Johann George Schmidt. It was modelled on the Viennese mansions and intended for the relaxation and entertainment of the educated and leisured nobility of the Baroque era. In 1787, the mansion was given as a gift to Ivana Lamberg, who was married to the riding master Laurenz Szögeny. From its original construction until the Second World War the mansion was a private residence, with many owners over the years. The last owner was the Kozler family, who built Ljubljana's largest brewery nearby. Peter Kozler was a patriot and national awakener, and the author of the first map of Slovenian lands and provinces, called the Map of the Slovenian Lands and Provinces. The reasons for naming the edifice Cekin Mansion are still shrouded in mystery. According to one explanation, the inhabitants of Ljubljana did not know how to pronounce the surname Szögeny and simply slovenialised it. According to another explanation, Kozler's father left his four children, in addition to all his property in Ljubljana, Rijeka, Vienna and Trieste, a top hat of gold coins (Slov. cekini), which they then used to buy the mansion, but this story has not been confirmed by any of their descendants. After the Second World War, the Cekin Mansion was nationalised, temporarily used for public housing and a school, and since 1951 it has been a museum.