Countess Lucy Christalnigg von und zu Gillitzstein, née Lucy Bellegarde, was born on 24 June 1872 in Klingenstein (now part of

Blaustein Blaustein () is a town in the district of Alb-Donau Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is situated on the Blau River, 6 km west of Ulm and has about 15,000 inhabitants. Before 1968, Blaustein was known as Herrlingen. It was created in 1 ...

) in the

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which existe ...

, and died on 10 August 1914 in Srpenica,

County of Gorizia and Gradisca The Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca (german: Gefürstete Grafschaft Görz und Gradisca; it, Principesca Contea di Gorizia e Gradisca; sl, Poknežena grofija Goriška in Gradiščanska), historically sometimes shortened to and spelled " ...

(now in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

). She was married to Count Oskar Christalnigg, a Carinthian aristocrat and Slovene patriot. Lucy Christalnigg

Srpenica Slovenia - Christalnigg inscription

She was one of the first female drivers in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, living sometimes in

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

(now in Austria) and sometimes in

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gori ...

(now in Italy). She was also a racing driver, winning the 1907 ''Wanderpreis'' of the Carinthian Automobile Club in an

Itala Itala was a car manufacturer based in Turin, Italy, from 1904 to 1934, started by Matteo Ceirano and five partners in 1903. Ceirano family background The Ceirano brothers, Giovanni Battista Ceirano, Giovanni Battista, Giovanni Ceirano, Giovanni ...

car. She became the first victim on the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Isonzo Front The Battles of the Isonzo (known as the Isonzo Front by historians, sl, soška fronta) were a series of 12 battles between the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies in World War I mostly on the territory of present-day Slovenia, and the remaind ...

when she was shot (possibly by mistake) on 10 August 1914 at a checkpoint in Srpenica (near

Bovec Bovec ( or ; , german: Flitsch, fur, Plèz) is a town in the Littoral region in northwestern Slovenia, close to the border with Italy. It is the central settlement of the Municipality of Bovec. Geography Bovec is located from the capital Ljubl ...

) while on a mission for the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

. Her story was largely forgotten, and was reconstructed in 2014 from primary sources by Nello Cristianini in the book ''The Last Summer''. Since then, her story has been covered by television and newspapers, and in 2015 she was second in a contest organised by the ''

Kleine Zeitung ''Kleine Zeitung'' (, ''Small Newspaper'') is an Austrian newspaper based in Graz and Klagenfurt. As the largest regional newspaper in Austria, covering the federal states Styria and Carinthia with East Tyrol, the paper has around 800,000 readers ...

'' of

to choose the name of a new street in the town of St. Veit. She is buried in St. Michael am Zollfeld, Austria. A monument stands on the place of her death, in Srpenica, and a documentary by TV Capodistria tells her story.

References

* The Last Summer: Story of Lucy Christalnigg and the End of a World by Nello Cristianini () * L'ultima estate: Storia di Lucy Christalnigg e della fine di un mondo by Nello Cristianini () * Poslednje Poletje: Zgodba O Lucy Christalnigg in O Koncu Nekega Sveta by Nello Cristianini, Andreja Nastasja Terbos (Translator), * Der letzte Sommer: Die Geschichte von Lucy Christalnigg und vom Ende einer Welte Release Date: July 2014; * TV Capodistria �
Istria e Dintorni
19-4-2015.
Kleine Zeitung contest article

Lucy, simbol pozabljene Gorice
Primorske Novice, 2015-08-22. {{DEFAULTSORT:Christalnigg, Lucy 1872 births 1914 deaths People from Alb-Donau-Kreis People from the Kingdom of Württemberg Austria-Hungary in World War I German emigrants to Austria-Hungary