The symbol of the city and one of the most representative buildings from the Austro-Hungarian period – the Sarajevo City Hall, which housed the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina (NUBBH), was shelled several times during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1995), and on the night of the 25th on August 26, 1992, shells fired from the positions of the Army of Republika Srpska caused a large fire in which this building and priceless cultural treasures were almost completely destroyed.
This was highlighted today at a ceremony in the hall of the Council, held to mark the sad 30th anniversary of the burning of this building and the National University of Bosnia and Herzegovina, institutions that bear witness to the continuity of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian being and cultural identity, to the suffering, but also to the restoration of the values on which that identity is based.
Referring to the mentioned event, the director of the National Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ismet Ovcina, reminded that a large part of the cultural heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina was burned in the fire, and that around two million library items were irretrievably lost.
At the same time, he expressed his satisfaction with the fact that 19,700 library items from special collections were saved, which inherit what is part of the cultural heritage, bearing witness to what Bosnia and Herzegovina has been throughout the ages – common life, multiculturalism, multiconfessionalism and multiethnicity, i.e. the centuries-old tradition of the people’s life and citizens of this country.
“The heterogeneous and plural character of BiH’s spiritual tradition represents the essence of the identity of our country and speaks most of all about the habitus and reality of our community. The existence of institutions like this library and its funds to a large extent testifies and affirms the values on which Bosnia and Herzegovina is based and what it already is it has been for centuries,” said Ovcina.
Looking at the current moment, the director of the NUB of BiH sent an appeal for an urgent resolution of the legal status and financing of this institution, and its “return” to the building of the City Hall.
Its former director (in the period 1993-2005) Enes Kujundzic pleaded for the resolution of the status of the NUB of Bosnia and Herzegovina, recalling the selfless commitment to the revival and development of this institution in the war and post-war period and the importance of those efforts.
He assessed that libraries are institutions through which the humanist tradition of a country and a society is defined, underlining that they are institutions with a long memory.
“The most tragic thing would be if the very institutions that preserve memory are exposed to oblivion, and that can happen if the NUB of BiH does not ‘return’ to the City Hall,” said Kujundzic.
The participants of the ceremony were greeted by the deputy high representative in BiH and the head of the Political and Fiscal Department Tobias Privitelli, recalling the suffering of the Sarajevo City Hall, a building that carries great symbolism, and expressing satisfaction with its successful restoration.
“OHR views the City Hall as one of the fundamental symbols of the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina… It is a symbol of resilience, unity and tolerance,” said Privitelli, pointing out that it is not only a building of stunning beauty, but also a meeting place of cultures, which gives hope for new generations. and a better future.
On behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Science, Goran Karanović addressed the participants of the ceremony, emphasizing the importance of an institution such as NUBBiH for a society and a country, as a guardian of knowledge, past, traces and memory.
In this context, he emphasized the readiness of the relevant ministry to continue to provide assistance to the work of the National Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to the efforts to restore as much of the book collection as possible.
The commemoration of the sad anniversary was accompanied by numerous and varied contents, including the projection of video material about the burning of the National Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Town Hall, testimonies of eyewitnesses – former employee Duško Toholje, who saved the books, and one of the firefighters – Omer Šetić.
Among other things, the presentation of the NUB BiH publication “City Hall – In Search of Identity” was announced, as well as the awarding of certificates of appreciation and the opening of appropriate exhibitions, as well as the contemporary and artistic music concert ‘No Borders Orchestra’, which will be held on August 26.
The Sarajevo City Hall was opened on April 20, 1896, and since then it has witnessed all the events in the capital of BiH. It was originally the building of the then city administration and administration of Sarajevo.
After the Second World War, until 1949, it served the city administration, as the building of the District Court of Sarajevo and the seat of the Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, after which it became the City Library, that is, the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the town hall was shelled several times, and after the end of the war, its reconstruction began. Renovated and officially opened on May 9, 2014. During the renovation, an old part that “survived” the fire of 30 years ago was built into each room of the City Hall.
All parts of the Town Hall were made according to documents and photographs of the appearance of the old Town Hall found in the Chapter Archives in Zagreb, and it now houses books and manuscripts of exceptional value, a kind of rarities.
