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C. Jäger-Klein, A. Bajramovic:
"Habsburg-Bosnia (1878-1918) condensed. The distinct architectural ensemble at Jajce";
Vortrag: 8th International UBT Conference 2019, Lipjan; 16.10.2019 - 17.10.2019; in: "Architecture and Spatial Planning", E. Hajrizi (Hrg.); UBT, (2019), ISBN: 978-9951-550-19-2; S. 133 - 140.

As the result of the decision reached at the Berlin Congress (1878), a
neglected Southeastern-European, Ottoman ruled, province of Bosnia was to be
ruled by the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Immediately, the new government
established efficient structures to enhance the educational systems as well as the
public infrastructure. Through type planning, the necessary new buildings grew
in a breathtaking speed. During the 1890s, the planners and responsible Austro-
Hungarian politicians developed a special architectural language for the
representative buildings of this region was established. The new government
aimed to, through their newly emerged buildings, support the identity of the
majorly Muslim population. After 1900s, private residences of the upper classes
as well as some urban apartment blocks were decorated in a certain
"Orientalizing" or "Pseudo-Moorish" style. After an intensive discussion on a
potential Bosnian romantic-style, based on the concept of the "Heimatstil" from
other European countries, some recognizable attributes of the traditional
buildings, mixed with Secessionist and Art Nouveau features, resulted in a
rejection of this "foreign" and "exotic" phase of the Orientalizing style,
nowadays reflected with credits.
On the southwestern slope of the castle hill at Jajce, located in central Bosnia,
we can see buildings reflective of all three architectural styles mentioned above.
Next to this distinct group of new buildings stands St. Luke´s tower, medieval
monument already listed and protected in 1892 by the Austrian officials.
Traditional residential houses from Ottoman-Bosnian times, frame the whole
setting. Contemporary travel reports already mark this group of buildings as an
"ensemble", which is worth a closer consideration from the viewpoint of the
monument protection theory. Besides, the ensemble represents a condensed
microcosm located at a single prominent site - Jajce was once the capital of the
medieval Bosnian kingdom but it also represents an attempt of the Austro-
Hungarian administration to modernize the country. Currently this distinct
cultural landscape, the Habsburg-Bosnian ensemble, in combination with the
important medieval monuments and the traditional Ottoman-Balkan residential
houses, is deserving of UNESCO world heritage status.
This paper summarizes the overall background of the Habsburg-Bosnian
building ensemble and its various architectural styles, by comparing it with
other, more detailed objects, traced so far through the European Research
Council Project titled "Islamic Architecture and Orientalizing Style in
Habsburg-Bosnia"

Habsburg-Bosnia, architectural ensemble, monument protection, historicism, neo-Moorish style, secession, modernization, cultural landscape

http://dx.doi.org/10.33107/ubt-ic.2019.245

https://publik.tuwien.ac.at/files/publik_301856.pdf