25% discount on tickets

National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina

25% discount on tickets

25% Popust na ulaznice

  • best-of

Founded in 1888, the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the oldest western-style cultural and scientific institution in the country. The idea of establishing a museum goes back to the mid-19th century, to a time when Bosnia and Herzegovina was still a part of the Ottoman Empire as the Eyalet of Bosnia. Yet it would take four decades and a change of government for the idea to be realised. In 1878, the Eyalet of Bosnia was occupied by the Austro-Hungarians, who brought with them new political and social goals, customs, and values. These included the furthering of science through research and academic and institutional development. As an uncharted Balkan country, Bosnia and Herzegovina piqued the interest of many Austro-Hungarian scholars, but also pseudo-scholars and treasure hunters. As a result, many cultural artefacts were taken out of the country. This sped up the realisation of the idea to establish a museum, which had long been brewing. The Museum Society was established first, then the National Museum itself, on 1 February 1888. The provincial government, as the founder, named government advisor Kosta Hörmann as the director of the museum. The original museum facilities in the town centre soon became inadequate for the growing collection, and so in 1909 construction began for a new museum complex comprising four pavilions and a botanic garden. The facility was completed and inaugurated in 1913. It would long remain the only purpose-built museum complex in the former Yugoslavia. It houses the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina to this day.

Osnovan 1888. godine, Zemaljski muzej je najstarija moderna kulturna i naučna ustanova zapadnog tipa u zemlji. Prva ideja o osnivanju muzeja seže još u polovinu 19. stoljeća, dok je prostor Bosne i Hercegovine – kao Bosanski pašaluk – pripadao Osmanskom carstvu. Ipak, ideja je realizovana gotovo četiri decenije kasnije dolaskom nove vlasti. Austro-Ugarska je okupirala Bosanski pašaluk 1878. godine, donijevši nove političke i društvene ciljeve, običaje i vrijednosti. Oni su uključivali i promociju nauke kroz istraživanje, akademski i institucionalni razvoj. Kao jedna od još uvijek neistraženih zemalja Balkana, Bosna i Hercegovina je privlačila zanimanje mnogih naučnika, naročito onih iz Austro-Ugarske, ali i pažnju pseudonaučnika i lovaca na blago. To je već prvih godina okupacije rezultiralo iznošenjem spomenika kulture s prostora Bosne i Hercegovine. Takvo je stanje ubrzalo je ostvarivanje ideje o osnivanju muzeja: prvo je osnovano Muzejsko društvo, a zatim i Zemaljski muzej 1. februara 1888. godine. Zemaljska vlada, kao osnivač institucije, imenovala je za direktora Muzeja vladinog savjetnika Kostu Hörmanna. Prostor u kome je Muzej bio prvobitno smješten – u tadašnjem centru grada – ubrzo je postao suviše skučen i nepodesan za zbirku koja je rasla, pa je 1909. godine počela izgradnja novog muzejskog kompleksa od četiri paviljona i Botaničkog vrta, koji je završen i otvoren 1913. Dugo vremena bio je to jedini namjenski izgrađen muzejski kompleks na prostoru bivše Jugoslavije. U njemu je Zemaljski muzej Bosne i Hercegovine smješten i danas.