Portreti / Portraits

PORTRAITS OF MAYORS

After the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878, more precisely on August 20, 1878, by the order of the Austro-Hungarian authorities, the Municipal Council of Sarajevo was established. It consisted of 6 Orthodox, 5 Muslim, 4 Jewish and 3 Catholics members, which reflected the multi-ethnicity of Sarajevo at the time.

The city government was originally located in a small building on the left bank of the Miljacka River, in old Zildžilik, and from 1886 in a local house - Dženetich home in the suburb of Bistrik. The need for the construction of the City Hall to permanently house city’s administration was expressed in 1880, however its construction began in 1892, almost 12 years later.

In 1878 Mustaj-bey Fadilpashich was named the first Mayor of Sarajevo. During his mandate which lasted 14 years, Sarajevo experienced noticeable positive changes. In 1880 the first omnibus (a type of horse-drawn carriage) began to transport passenger within the city, and five years later in 1885 Sarajevo got the first horse drawn tram.

In 1882 hotel Europe was opened, the first modern western type hotel in Sarajevo, followed by the Grand Hotel two years later. During this time the National Museum was established as the oldest institution of this kind in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

During the construction of the City Hall from 1893 to 1899, the second mayor of Sarajevo was Mehmed-bey Kapetanovich Ljubushak. He was a prominent Bosnian politician, cultural and public worker, writer and publicist. During his term of office he focused on the development of Bosnian culture and tradition. Early in his career he realized that education and modernization of the Muslim population is the only way forward in the upcoming turbulent times. He collected proverbs, traditional songs and stories and published two book collections named "National treasure" and "Eastern treasure". In 1891 he launched the political paper "Bosniak".

On the walls of this room there are photographs of 33 former mayors of our city, with their names, years of mandates and short biographies.

WOODEN STAIRCASE

In this room you can also see a unique wooden staircase which at first glance resembles a mosque pedestal called mimber, a place from which Imam (Muslim priest) gives a speech after a ritual prayer on Fridays and during Ramadan. This intricate staircase is made of solid oak featuring rich oriental decorations and motives from Islamic art. The staircase connects the first and the second floors in the east wing of the building and interestingly this beautiful wooden staircase is the only one of this kind in the entire building. The inspiration for this fascinating design was found by the architect Aleksandar Wittek in the mosque of Sultan Hasan II in the Egyptian city of Cairo.

This staircase was completely destroyed during the war in 1992 and has been restored authentically according to the original technical documentation.