Composer Hugo Wolf was born in 1860. His family had Slovenian ancestors on both of his parents' sides. With the spread of the leather industry and their rise up the social ladder, they experienced the then common process of Germanisation. Prior to their arrival in Slovenj Gradec their surname was Vouk, but they changed it to Wolf which made it easier for them to be accepted in the predominantly German market settlement. Hugo Wolf, who reached world wide acclaim in the music capital of Europe at that time – Vienna, spent his childhood in Slovenj Gradec. Young Hugo was a child prodigy, playing the violin like a virtuoso. When he succeeded in reaching his musical peak in Vienna, he was praised as the untouchable master of solo. Hugo died young, medically insane. In his memory, his mother commissioned a picture window for the parish church, which is still preserved today.
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