Sarajevo City Hall, a symbol of the city and one of the most representative and beautiful buildings from the Austro-Hungarian period, was shelled several times during the siege of Sarajevo, and on August 25, 1992, shells fired from positions of the Army of Republika Srpska caused a major fire in which the interior of the building was completely burned down.
The City Hall, which before the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina (NUBBiH) and which represented a gathering place for students and all people eager for knowledge, burned down on August 25 in just a few hours, and with it the written treasures of Bosnia and Herzegovina were irretrievably destroyed.
Almost 80 percent of the library’s holdings, two million books, magazines, as well as invaluable manuscripts that bear witness to the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina, were destroyed in the fire.
Although citizens and employees tried to save a certain part of the fund, the fire that engulfed the City Hall was almost impossible to control, and an additional problem was constant sniper fire from the positions of the RS Army on the hills around Sarajevo.
August 25, 1992 was one of the most emotionally difficult days for all the inhabitants of Sarajevo, as well as for all the people for whom the City Hall was a symbol of the city and a kind of center of knowledge.
Thanks to the strength of understanding and solidarity of friends and partners, the Town Hall was renovated and officially opened on May 9, 2014, on Europe Day and Victory over Fascism Day.
Its post-war reconstruction lasted 18 years, so that this world symbol of the meeting of civilizations rose from the ashes, defiantly standing upright, in its authentic, luxurious appearance. It was also a victory for the city of Sarajevo and the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It now houses books and manuscripts of exceptional value and rarities and is a multimedia center of culture, art and economy of the City of Sarajevo and the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where concerts, literary evenings, exhibitions, presentations, conferences, congresses, symposia, receptions, anniversaries, weddings are held.
In 2006, the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared the Town Hall a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
