Leopoldina’s parents—he a railway warehouseman, she a market vendor—appear in a late‑19th‑century photograph dressed in elegant, tailor‑made clothing. For years, the question of how Theodor and Maria Köberl could have afforded such a photograph remained an unsolved family mystery.
The idea that the clothes were merely borrowed from a prestigious Maribor photo studio was dismissed by the expert opinion of the Maribor Regional Museum: “The gentleman is dressed in a bespoke suit, as indicated by the presence of a third lower pocket, the so‑called ticket pocket, characteristic of tailored menswear. The lady is wearing an elegant dark dress typical of the period in which the female silhouette with a bell‑shaped skirt became established. The skirt falls smoothly over the hips, while the bodice is distinguished by large, voluminous sleeves—commonly referred to as leg‑of‑mutton or gigot sleeves.” (expert opinion, Brvar & Habjanič, Maribor Regional Museum, 25 November 2024)
During our search for traces of Leopoldina, we found in the Regional Archives Maribor the prison file showing that Theodor Köberl served a three‑month sentence at the end of 1898 for a minor fraud. It involved the concealment of a large sum of found money, which was quickly discovered. But apparently there was enough time for Theodor to fulfil a long‑held wish and, at least once in his life, feel like a gentleman. If Leopoldina ever knew the secret behind the family photograph, she never revealed it to her children.
