Škoda Tower
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The Škoda Tower ( sr, Шкодин торањ / Škodin toranj) was a steel construction for exhibition parachuting within the Sajmište complex in
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
, the capital of
Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...
(today
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
). During its existence from June 1938 to November 1945, it was the tallest structure in Belgrade with the height of , and was advertised as the tallest facility of its kind in both Europe and the world. It took almost 30 years before another structure in Belgrade surpassed this height, until the tall Beograđanka building was completed in 1974.


Origin

From 6 June to 11 September 1937, the Sajmište complex was built on the left bank of the
Sava The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally th ...
, across the old section of Belgrade. It was the first planned neighborhood of what would become New Belgrade after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Ultra modern and artistic compound with pavilions and a spiked Central tower hosted Belgrade Fair, and numerous international exhibitions, including military and
car shows An auto show, also known as a motor show or car show, is a public exhibition of current automobile models, debuts, concept cars, or out-of-production classics. It is attended by automotive industry representatives, dealers, auto journalists a ...
, and an early exhibition of television. Based on the plan from 1932, and endorsed by the king
Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome * Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...
in 1934, Yugoslav government in 1937 signed a deal with the
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
n
Škoda Works The Škoda Works ( cs, Škodovy závody, ) was one of the largest European industrial conglomerates of the 20th century, founded by Czech engineer Emil Škoda in 1859 in Plzeň, then in the Kingdom of Bohemia, Austrian Empire. It is the predece ...
for the purchase of 300
tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
s. As a gesture of thanks, the company decided to donate the towering construction as the parachuting attraction. The Sajmište was selected as Czechoslovakia already had its exhibition pavilion at the fairground, but also as from 28 May to 13 June 1938, a large International Aviation Exhibition was held with aircraft industries from 11 countries (including United Kingdom, Italy, France and Germany) being represented. At the time, construction of the tower was praised as the supreme move of advertisement.


Opening

The "parachutists tower" was opened on 2 June 1938. It was the latest addition to the fairground complex, dedicated with pompous and lavish ceremony. The latticed steel construction was tall, becoming the tallest structure in Belgrade. The tower was an imposing and domineering structure, which, due to its height and position in the flat and low terrain, was visible from all parts of Belgrade from across the river. It was used both for the professional training of the parachutists, but also for the amateur jumps by the fair visitors. An elevator was transporting jumpers up to the jumping platforms, where the parachute was installed. The parachute was tied with an elastic cable to the secured platform, resembling rather modern
bungee jumping Bungee jumping (), also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a ...
, so anyone could use it to land down. The jumping platforms were located at the heights of and . After testing jumps, the first official parachutist was a woman, Katarina Matanović. In the first year of use 3,164 jumps were conducted from the tower.


World War II

After the Axis
invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was p ...
in April 1941 during World War II, German occupational forces adapted the Sajmište complex into the concentration camp originally called Jewish camp in Zemun (), which colloquially became known as the
Sajmište concentration camp The Sajmište concentration camp () was a Nazi German concentration and extermination camp during World War II. It was located at the former Belgrade fairground site near the town of Zemun, in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). The camp was o ...
. When the camp was established, the tower was equipped with
searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...
s and several
machine gun nest A defensive fighting position (DFP) is a type of earthwork constructed in a military context, generally large enough to accommodate anything from one soldier to a fire team (or similar sized unit). Terminology Tobruk type positions are name ...
s to monitor the area and the river, and to stop those trying to escape the lager. The structure gained a moniker "death tower". It escaped all heavy bombardments of Belgrade during the war, including German bombing in April 1941, and Allied Easter bombing in April 1944, when majority of the camp itself was destroyed, but the tower survived. During the Belgrade offensive in October 1944, '' Politika's'' photographer Vladeta Limić took photos of the fighting at the tower during the battle for expelling the Germans out of Belgrade. The tower survived those clashes, too.


Demolition

Though it survived the war, the new Communist authorities decided in the late 1945 to demolish the tower, sending German war prisoners to tear it down. Reasons for such decision remained unknown. It is usually suggested that this has been done due to the highly negative perception among the residents because of the role the tower had during the war years, as it is estimated that up to 23,000 people perished in the Sajmište concentration camp. One of the last photos of the tower was from October 1945, when military units were making preparations for the 20 October parade, marking the first anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade. Several weeks later it was wired and demolished. Demolition of the tower left
Palace Albanija Palace Albanija ( sr, Палата Албанија, , literally "Palace Albania") is a high-rise building in Belgrade, Serbia. Important construction and architectural innovations were incorporated into the project, which made Albanija an exce ...
, built in 1939, only one year after the tower, as the tallest structure in Belgrade with its . The next Belgrade structure that would surpass the height of the Škoda tower will be built only in 1974, when the tall Beograđanka building was finished. The tower was located in the southeast corner of the complex, next to the road along the Sava river, where the modern
Old Sava Bridge The Old Sava Bridge ( sr, Стари савски мост, Stari savski most) is a and bridge, crossing the river Sava in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the smallest road bridge in the Serbian capital and is used both for car and tram traffic. The main ...
, built in 1942, crosses the river. Nothing remained of the structure, and a football pitch of
FK Brodarac FK Brodarac () is a football club based in New Belgrade, Serbia. They compete in the Serbian League Belgrade, the third tier of the national league system. History In the 2010–11 season, the club won the Belgrade Second League (Group Danube ...
was built on its location.


See also

*
Staro Sajmište Staro Sajmište ( sr-cyr, Старо Сајмиште, Old Fairground) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of New Belgrade, and it was the site of the World War II Sajmište concen ...
*
Sajmište concentration camp The Sajmište concentration camp () was a Nazi German concentration and extermination camp during World War II. It was located at the former Belgrade fairground site near the town of Zemun, in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). The camp was o ...


References

{{Coord, 44, 48, 43, N, 20, 26, 39, E, format=dms, display=title Demolished buildings and structures in Serbia Buildings and structures in Belgrade Buildings and structures completed in 1938 Buildings and structures demolished in 1945 New Belgrade