Podsmreka Castle

The manor's name is a compound of the Slovene words pod and smreka, meaning 'beneath [the] spruce'.

Built by the noble Galli family in the late 16th century,[2] the mansion was rebuilt several times by later owners.

In 1935, it was purchased by the Viennese nobleman Peter Klarwill (1909–1992),[3] who maintained a library and art collection in it.

[4] Karwill, who was of Jewish origin, sold the castle to Anton Verovšek (1917–1947) in 1939 and emigrated to New Zealand.

[4] In 1948, the mansion was sold to the state by Verovšek's impoverished heirs (whose other property and business had been confiscated by the communist regime), and it was converted into a women's prison.