Sarajevo city hall reopens

Sarajevo’s historic city hall (Obala Kulina bana, Sarajevo 71000, Bosnia & Herzegovina), first opened in 1896, reopened on May 9, 2014, for the first time since 1992. 

The reopening coincides with the centenary of World War I; it was the building Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife had left soon before they were assassinated in 1914. In 1949 it was converted into the national library. During the Bosnian War in the ’90s, it was shelled and burned despite its not being a military target; almost two million books, including rare manuscripts, were lost in the fire. 

The building now houses the national and university libraries, a museum and the city council.