prijava
SARAJEVO, August 26 (FENA) - A solemn academy on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the shelling and burning down of the Sarajevo City Hall took place last evening, in this renovated, representative building in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Mayor of Sarajevo Abdulah Skaka, among others, addressed the guests.
“It took us 18 years to rebuild the City Hall, but we succeeded. By opening the Trebević Cable Car in Sarajevo and opening the Olympic Museum next year, we will give back to ourselves and everyone visiting us the last destroyed symbols of Sarajevo. Quoting the words written on the board at the entrance to this temple of culture - we will not forget, we will remember and warn – but we will also build. We are proud of what we have achieved, despite all the difficulties, what we have managed in the present, and now we are looking to the future,” said the mayor.
He emphasized the sacrifice and dedication of firefighters who saved some of the most valuable manuscripts from the City Hall during the attack on the building in August 1992, knowing that only what they carry out in their own hands will be saved and preserved.
University professor and architect Lemja Akšamija, emphasized the architectural value of the City Hall.
Thanks to the kindness of the National Museum in Sarajevo, for this occasion, in the hall of the building, the original stone base has been displayed, the one that was placed at the beginning of the construction 124 years ago with engraved names. The inscription reads: "His Imperial Kingdom and Apostolic Highness, Franz Joseph I, 1894, Benjamin Kallay, Minister Edmund Stix, Principal Ivan Kelner, Advisor Ciril Metod Iveković, architect Ivan Dolzar, Ivan Widi, the mason.
The City Hall in Sarajevo is one of the most beautiful buildings building during the Austro-Hungarian period in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It was officially opened for the first time on April 20, 1896, as one of the symbols of the city, which has remained until today.
The building was originally the headquarters of the administration of Sarajevo. It functioned as such until 1949, and in the years after the end of the Second World War, it became the City Library, that is, the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
During the last war in BiH, during the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995, the City Hall was shelled repeatedly and on several different occasions.
In the night between August 25 and August 26, 1992, after the heavy shelling, the fire engulfed and swallowed almost the entire interior with about 90 percent of the library fund and historical documents.
The City Hall was rebuilt and re-opened on May 9, 2014.
All parts of the City Hall have been rebuilt according to the archival documents and photographs of its original design.
Today, this building safeguards books and manuscripts of special importance and the rarities that are kept in special conditions. The City Hall is also used as a venue for significant social events.
(FENA) S. R.
