[wzslider autoplay=”true”]Josip Juraj Strossmayer was a theologian, politician, cultural worker and a writer; one of the most significant and most influential Croatian individuals of 19th century. He was born on February 4th 1815 in Osijek, Croatia.
The Strossmayer Street in Sarajevo was built by the Austro-Hungarian administration, envisaging that part of the city as its urban “heart”, which this street remained to be until today. Back then it was called Rudolph’s Street, in honor of Rudolph, the son of the emperor Franz Joseph I. This Crown Prince of liberal attitudes tragically ended his life at the age of 31, in a story shrouded in mystery.
The official version is that he committed a suicide together with his mistress, the 18-year-old Baroness Marie Vetsera, due to forbidden love. However, there are theories that both were killed on demand, or that Rudolph first killed Marie and then himself. By all accounts, it will never be known what exactly happened that night in the Mayerling castle.
Since 1919, when the Kingdom of Yugoslavia assumed power, the street has been named Strossmayer’s Street, after Josip Juraj Strossmayer, the Bosnian-Đakovo and Srijem bishop, politician, theologian, writer… At one time he strongly fought for the idea of unification of the Yugoslav peoples, and he also promoted the construction of the Cathedral in Sarajevo.
For some time after the Second World War the cars continued driving down this street, and the bus for Podhrastovi turned in front of the Cathedral. Later on, that bus station was relocated – today this line starts in front of the House of the Army, and the Strossmayer’s Street becomes a pedestrian zone, just like it is today.
Take a look at the gallery to see how the look of this street in the heart of Sarajevo changed.
(Source: radiosarajevo.ba)
