The first mayor of Sarajevo, Mustaj-beg Fadilpasic was born in Sarajevo in 1830. He grew up and hot his education in Istanbul. He came to Sarajevo in 1860 and became a member of medzlis-idare, and he was a Mayor of Sarajevo from 1878 until his death in 1892. He was mayor for 14 years, and at that time Sarajevo underwent major changes.
Historians recorded that, after several hours lasting battle, on the 19th of August 1878, Sarajevo got a new master. Streets of Sarajevo were full of Austro-Hungarian soldiers. Sarajevo was counting 20,000 residents back then. On the 20th of August, General Filipovic ordered the establishment of a new municipal council and the reconstruction of earlier City Government. By the General’s order, new municipal council consisted of 6 Orthodox Christians, 5 Muslims, 4 Jews and 3 Catholics, and Mustaj -beg Fadilpasic was appointed for the Mayor of Sarajevo.
In 1879, there was no rainfall for two months and on the 8th of August, Sarajevo was hit by devastating fire. The fire destroyed 304 houses, 434 shops, 135 other buildings and 36 streets, which speaks enough about the size of the fire. After the fire, the appeal for help to the people of B&H was sent.
If you ever walked down the street called Koturova Street, you should know that the street was named after Dusan Koturov from Zagreb, in gratitude for all that he did for Sarajevo in those difficult days, as well as later during the reconstruction of the city.
It is interesting how, with the arrival of new, Austro-Hungarian authority, trading offer was changed as well. Foreigners brought new customs, services and goods were daily advertised in the newspapers.
When it comes to the cultural impact, an interesting fact is that the people of Sarajevo were first ones able to listen to the opera in September 1882. For Sarajevo, this represented a kind of cultural privilege, because at the time, many larger European cities did not have such a privilege. Opera “Alessandro Stradella” was performed in Sarajevo by an ensemble of the German theater Heinrich Spire. The chronicler of “Sarajevo list” gladly noted that the theater was jam full.
Besides the first opera, Sarajevo got the first Sarajevo hotel similar to hotels in Europe. It is Hotel Evropa, which managed to keep its name until today. It was designed by a young architect Josip Vancas. Today, a street in Sarajevo is named after him.
The first mayor of Sarajevo Mustaj-beg Fadilpasic died in 1892. He could not even imagine what kind of destruction will happen in Sarajevo in 1992, when Muhamed Kresevljakovic was the Mayor of Sarajevo.
(Source: itravelbosnia.com)
