The City Hall is Sarajevo’s most famous building, an unavoidable detail of most panoramic views of the city and a kind of symbol of various historical and cultural changes.
The idea of a museum, i.e. a permanent exhibition space in the Town Hall dates back to its renovation, with the aim of showing visitors the rich history of this national monument. Thus, today’s permanent exhibition consists of the segments “Town Hall”, “25 November Room”, “Franz & Sophie Room”, “Portraits of the Mayor” and “Contemporary Art Ars Aevi”.
In an interview with Fena, the head of the City Hall service, Meliha Redžić, recalled that the “City Hall” permanent exhibition space was opened in August 2023, on the date of the sad death of this building on August 25, 1992.
The exhibition is located in the basement of the Town Hall in a hexagonal space, where the historical line of the Town Hall is presented with eight thematic units. They are arranged chronologically and in multiple languages, so that visitors can choose for themselves which direction to go and how to get information, whether from the period before the construction of the Town Hall or vice versa.
Thematic units represent the city of Sarajevo through history – before the very construction of the City Hall and the current period when the City Hall was “raised from the ashes” and returned to citizens and visitors.
“Special attention of the visitors is attracted by the thematic unit that simulates a ruin with remains of flames and authentic remains of burned books and other remains that were in the burned City Hall,” said Redžić.
In the central area is the original foundation stone that was found during the works on the reconstruction of the hall of the Town Hall as one of the more valuable authentic exhibits. The names of all participants in the construction and the year of construction are carved on the stone.
Each of the thematic units contains textual and graphic content and photo documentation.
The permanent exhibition “Review of the work and contributions of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)”, as a unique exhibition space in the City Hall as part of the Information Center of the ICTY Sarajevo, is under the jurisdiction of the work organization of the City of Sarajevo.
“According to the record of sold tickets, more than 40,000 visitors from different parts of the world visited the City Hall last year,” said Redžić.
Also, there are more than 20,000 visitors who attended various events held in the Town Hall.
Visitors are most interested in the unique architecture of the Town Hall, but also in the permanent exhibitions “Town Hall”, “25 November Room”, “Franz & Sophie Room”, “Portraits of the Mayor” and the exhibition space of the contemporary art project Ars Aevi, where it is possible to view several permanent settings.
Also, visitors have the option of using an interactive mobile application/audio guide through the City Hall – Sarajevo City Hall, which is available in seven different languages.
The goal is to enable visitors to get to know the offer and all the beauties of the Town Hall in a modern way. One of the advantages is that it allows complete independence during the visit.
“The Town Hall has maintained and confirmed its position as the most representative space for visitors and tourists as well as for holding social, cultural and artistic events in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” concluded the manager of the Town Hall service, Meliha Redžić, in an interview for Fena.
