Zagreb : a cultural history / Celia Hawkesworth.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hawkesworth, Celia, 1942-

Series:

Cityscapes

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Zagreb (Croatia)--History--19th century.

Zagreb (Croatia).

Zagreb (Croatia)--History--20th century.

Zagreb (Croatia)--Intellectual life.

Zagreb (Croatia)--Social life and customs.

Physical Description:

xxvii, 236 pages : illustrations, map ; 21 cm.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2008.

Summary:

Situated at the foot of a range of hills on the edge of the great Pannonian Plain, for most of its history Zagreb has been a small town to which things happened. Administered from 1102 by Hungary and later absorbed into the Habsburg Monarchy, Zagreb was under threat from the advancing Ottomans until the late sixteenth century. In 1918 the Croatian lands joined their immediate South Slav neighbors in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovens, later renamed Yugoslavia. Following Yugoslaviais violent collapse, in 1991 Zagreb became the capital city of the new independent Croatia.

From the mid-nineteenth century onwards Zagreb developed steadily into a modern city, reflecting all the important trends in Central European culture, architecture, and fashion. Its pretty center is laid out according to a plan incorporating trees and public gardens, forming a green horseshoe lined with imposing buildings. Celia Hawkes-worth explores this central core and the atmospheric old town on a rise above it, finding a mix of old and modern buildings, a rich cultural tradition, and a vibrant outdoor cafe life, in which many of the individuals who have contributed to creating the city's unique inner life are commemorated in statues in the streets and squares. City of Struggle: the legacy of external attack; fire, earthquakes, and internal political strife; where street names reflect a turbulent past, the need to adapt to historical and political circumstances, and a steady, patient striving for autonomy. City of Culture: the sculpture of Ivan Mestrovic; the Zagreb Musical Biennale and Igor Pogorelic; the unique collections of paintings in the Strossmayer and Modern Galleries; the novels and plays of Miroslav Krieza; and a lively tradition of artistic experimentation. City of Pleasure: parks, hills, forests, and lakes; numerous sports centers; cafes, bars, jazz-clubs, and night-spots for quiet relaxation or dancing; theaters, concert-halls, cinemas, and shopping-malls, which can almost all be reached on foot from the central square.

Contents:

Introduction: Between the hills and the river

Cannon balls, church bells and a bloody bridge : the city's beginnings

Coffee, cake and waltzing to nationhood : the nineteenth century

Grave, wine and poets : modernization and the first Yugoslavia

From war to war, ends, beginnings and the second Yugoslavia, 1945-2000

Into the new millennium : the independent Republic of Croatia.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 227-228) and indexes.

ISBN:

9780195327984

9780195327991

0195327985

0195327993

OCLC:

82772699

Online:

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