Where it all started

Robert’s second wife, Helene, from Switzerland, was much better suited to family life and took good care of her family. She was pivotal to the establishment of the Vegetarian Guesthouse. In addition to Robert’s work as an engineer in the navy yard at Triest, they lived off the fruits of their garden and offered their vegetarian delicacies to guests at the Pension. Of course, the von Trapp family was among the guests who came to visit and delighted the Lutz family with their singing.

They were ahead of their time. In the 1930s, they were already offering a kind of sustainable tourism that is just becoming popular today. This is the kind of tourism I wish to support with my translation work.

This postcard shows an image of the “Pensione vegetariana” [Vegetarian Guesthouse] built by my great-grandfather Robert Lutz. Robert was born in Celje (in modern-day Slovenia) in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and at this time he was serving in the Austrian Navy, together with the Baron von Trapp (yes, the Baron von Trapp of The Sound of Music fame). Through this association, Robert met and married the Baron's sister, Hede von Trapp, who was an Austrian poet, painter and graphic designer of the Art Nouveau movement.

Family life didn't suit Hede, but pursuing her work as an artist was frowned upon at that time. Unable to pursue her artistic activity as part of the Lutz family, she and Robert divorced.