House of Vuk's Foundation
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The House of Vuk's Foundation is the name of a historical building 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 ...
, built in 1879, that serves as the headquarters of the Vuk's Foundation. Located on the Теrazije at 2 Kralja Milana Street, it is one of the oldest structures in that part of Belgrade.
Aleksandar Bugarski Aleksandar Bugarski (1835–1891) was a Serbian architect who combined the new with the old styles giving the city a distinct feature of its own. Biography Aleksandar Bugarski was born in 1835 into an engineering family, in Eperjes (then Austrian ...
, a prominent 19th-century
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 ...
n architect, designed the original building as a two-story house in the
Academic art Academic art, or academicism or academism, is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie d ...
style of the day.


History

The building, whose architect was Alexander Bulgarski, was built in 1870/71 for the merchant Dimitrije Mita Golubović. In the beginning the building was the head office of the Russian Imperial Consulate, then the Serbian Institute for War Orphans, and was then used by the Ministry of Education in 1879. The smaller courtyard wing was repaired and upgraded in 1906, with the decorative works in the interior done by painter Dragutin Inkiostri Medenjak, who happened to be the only
decorative Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes these objects pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, together with art and taste, is the main subject of aesthetics, o ...
painter in Belgrade at that time. Within these works, he included a folk ornament motif in accordance with the national style. Due to the growth of the Ministry, there was a need to expand the building. This commenced in 1912 towards the Sava slope. A wing that included an interior courtyard was built by architect
Branko Tanazević Branko Tanazević (Бранко Таназевић) ( Čakovo, Banat, 1876 - Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, 1945) was one of the most famous Serbian architects of the Art Nouveau and Serbo-Byzantine Revival, also known as the Serbian national s ...
who also worked on the total reconstruction of the main front facade . Painter and decorator Dragutin Inkiostri Medenjak was put in charge of the interior. The two cooperated on the project, despite being fierce opponents as far as national style was concerned. Work on the facade and the interior was done in a Serbian-Byzantine style according to Tanazević's design. The last renovation of the building for the Ministry – the new wing towards the Kraljica Natalija Street – was carried out in 1924, designed by architect Žarko Tatić. The building was home to the Ministry of Education from 1879 until 1952. It has housed the Church Department of the Ministry of Education of the Principality of Serbia since 1880. In 1914, the building also housed the Foundation Department of the Ministry of Education of the Kingdom of Serbia. The Artistic Department of the Kingdom of SHS and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia also moved into the building in 1919. Despite the expansion, certain departments of the Ministry of Education remained outside the main building. During the period of occupation in the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the building was used as the headquarters of the Main Commissariat of
Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...
, and as the Main Postal Administration. After the capitulation of the
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 ...
in 1941, the Ministry of Education was closed for a short time, but the Department for German Language Teaching was founded and it remained in the building until October 1944. The Church Department was separated from the Ministry in 1944 to form the Ministry of Religion. In November 1944, the Committee for the Education of the NR of Serbia was founded, and it grew into the Ministry of Education between April 1945–1946. It remained in the building until 1952, when the Federal Institute for the Patterns, and the Federal Institute for Work Productivity, moved into space vacated by the scaled-back newspaper ''Mladost'' and the ULUS, among others. In 1988, two years after the first revitalization of the facade, the building was assigned to the Vuk's Foundation for permanent use and management. The general reconstruction of the building was done in 1997/98. This included work on the ceiling of the hall, stairs and railings which were successfully reconstructed, and a modern chandelier was added to light the main hall. In 2006 the front facade facing the street was repaired. The Cultural Heritage Protection Institute of the City of Belgrade published a monograph in 1996, written by art historian Milojko Gordić, about the building using its monumental name as the title – ''The Ministry of Education Building''.


Preservation

The facade is completely preserved. The furniture, made after the designs of Dragutin Inkiostri, has been partially preserved and several pieces (e.g., a chair from the Minister's cabinet) are now in the
Ethnographic Museum Ethnographic museums conserve, display and contextualize items relevant to the field of ethnography, the systematic study of people and cultures. Such museums include: List by country/region Albania * Ethnographic Museum of Kavajë, * Gjirokast ...
and the Museum of Applied Art in Belgrade. Most of the original compositions on the walls have been destroyed over time. However, the wall ornaments in the gateway towards the courtyard are original as they were accidentally painted over after the Second World War. They were discovered by accident in 1963, cleaned, and the allegoric compositions of religion, education, history and art can be seen on them. They were restored in 1997. Above the entrance to the building, the emblem of the Kingdom of Serbia was placed, embedded into the
Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
shaped two-colored, red and white facade, with originally blended motifs from Serbian Medieval architecture, elements of Serbian national tradition, as well as the decorative motifs from the European
secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...
. The purpose of this object, which is a testimony to the continuity of the culture of education, has been preserved for one hundred and thirty-five years. The Ministry of Education Building was protected as the cultural property for the first time in 1966, and since 1979 it was declared cultural property of great importance (The Official Gazette SRS no. 14/79).The official site of The Cultural Heritage Protection Institute of the City of Belgrade http://beogradskonasledje.rs/kd/zavod/stari_grad/zgrada_ministarstva_prosvete.html The facade was revitalized in 2006, within the project " Lepša Srbija".


Gallery

Zgrada Ministarstva prosvete u Beogradu - 0035.JPG Zgrada Ministarstva prosvete u Beogradu - 0041.JPG Vukova Zaduzbina.JPG Zgrada Ministarstva prosvete u Beogradu - 002.JPG Zgrada Ministarstva prosvete u Beogradu - 004.JPG Zgrada Ministarstva prosvete u Beogradu - 0024.JPG Zgrada Ministarstva prosvete u Beogradu - 0025.JPG Zgrada Ministarstva prosvete u Beogradu - 0023.JPG Zgrada Ministarstva prosvete u Beogradu - 0021.JPG Zgrada Ministarstva prosvete u Beogradu - 0020.JPG Zgrada Ministarstva prosvete u Beogradu - 006.JPG


References


External links

* {{Belgrade Architecture Buildings and structures in Belgrade Tourist attractions in Belgrade Monuments and memorials in Serbia Culture in Belgrade Office buildings in Serbia Cultural Monuments of Great Importance (Serbia)