Rogaška Slatina has enormously rich history! Beside great stories about visits of European rulers, who had been treated in Rogaška Slatina, where was well known and important health resort in past, there are also stories, which are mostly unknown but nothing less interesting.
One of them is a story about Vili Berghaus, born on Maj 8, 1849. The illegitimate son of Serbian prince Miloš Obrenovič III had been born in prince’s romance with native Marija Bergahus, who died shortly after she gave birth to a son. Vili had been moved in Beograd, where he grew up. There he also renamed himself in Velimir Mihajl Teodorović, which is an old family name used in the family Obrenović. Despite he was illegitimate and therefore never officially recognized; he inherited a considerable amount of father’s heritage, which he, after his death, gave for culture, children and orphans in Serbia.
Story of the Vili Berghaus in Rogaška Slatina was revived by Sandi Jurkovič, who is founding leader of the new Anna’s court – Gallery in Rogaška Slatina. Jurkovič is also known as folk artist Nani Poljanec, who is an eager collector and researcher of a local history and wider.
For more serious researches information must be confirmed. In the case of Vili Bergaus was not known, if he had been born in Rogaška Slatina. In this stage of research we offered our help. When we had found the note about Vili’s birth in register, we could confirm that the story of Illegitimate son of Serbian Prince Miloš Obrenović is not only a local legend but also a historical truth.