The Yugoslav Ministry of Defence building ( sr, Савезни секретариjaт за народну одбрану, Savezni Sekretarijat za Narodnu Odbranu,
lit. "Federal Secretariat for the People's Defense"), also known as the Yugoslav General Staff ( sr, Зграда Генералштаба, Zgrada Generalštaba,
lit. "General Staff Building") is a building that was previously occupied by the
Ministry of Defence of Yugoslavia, a governmental department responsible for defending the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...
from internal and external military threats.
Considered to be a masterpiece of post-war architecture, it was bombed and heavily damaged during the
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an a ...
in 1999. Today, only a small non-damaged portion of the building is used by the
Ministry of Defence of Serbia.
History
The building was built between 1957 and 1965 and it was designed by Serbian architect,
Nikola Dobrović
Nikola Dobrović ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Добровић, ; 12 February 1897 – 11 January 1967) was a Serbian architect, teacher, and urban planner. Dobrović designed a number of buildings including the Yugoslav Ministry of Defence building, l ...
.
It is divided by
Nemanjina Street
Nemanjina Street ( sr, Немањина улица / ''Nemanjina ulica'', en, Nemanja Street) is a very important thoroughfare in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, in the Savski Venac municipality. After the completion of the construction of the Railw ...
, and its design is meant to resemble a canyon of the
Sutjeska river, where
one of the most significant battles of
World War II in Yugoslavia
World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was swiftly conquered by Axis forces and partitioned between Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and their client regimes. Shortly after Germany attacked the US ...
was fought, with the street as a river dividing the two monumental, gradually completed tracts. As Nemanjina Street comes up the hill from the
main railway station
Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
, the two parts of the building form a symbolic gate.
In addition to expressive cascading forms, facades are characterized by the application of contrasting materials - robust, brown-red stone from
Kosjerić
Kosjeríć ( sr-cyr, Косјерић, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of western Serbia. The municipality has a population of 12,090 inhabitants, but the town itself has 3,992. The municipality's area is , with 26 v ...
and white
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
slabs from the island of
Brač
Brač is an island in the Adriatic Sea within Croatia, with an area of ,
making it the largest island in Dalmatia, and the third largest in the Adriatic. It is separated from the mainland by the Brač Channel, which is wide. The island's talle ...
. The most striking visual motif representing the window bars on the facades, designed in the spirit of late modernism.
The first part of the building, standing across the
government of Serbia
The Government of Serbia ( sr, Влада Србије, Vlada Srbije), formally the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr, Влада Републике Србије, Vlada Republike Srbije), commonly abbreviated to Serbian Government ( sr, ...
building in
Kneza Miloša street, is named Building "A" and has 12,654 square meters.
The other part of the building, divided by Nemanjina Street, is named Building "B" and has 36,581 square meters.
1999 bombing
Around midnight on 29/30 April 1999, 40 days into the
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an a ...
, the building was bombed two times by NATO in the space of 15 minutes, because of the structure's significance as a military facility.
It was uninhabited at the time it was bombed, leading some to speculate that it was bombed more due to its symbolic significance as a representation of the state, rather than merely just for immediate tangible purposes.
It was bombed once again nine days later, around midnight on 7/8 May 1999.
Post-bombing
Severely damaged by the 1999 bombing, the building has not been repaired for over a decade and is Belgrade’s most famous ruin. Since 2005, it has been the protected monument of culture,
symbolizing the 1999 NATO bombing and suffering of Serbia.
Building "B" was much less damaged during the bombings, and in the following years entrance of the building has been removed, for the safety of the pedestrians. Part of the building "B" has been used by the
Ministry of Defence of Serbia.
;Reconstruction
In November 2015, with the budget of 650,000 euros, the first phase of reconstruction of Building "A" has started, for the purpose of structure collapse prevention.
By May 2016, the central part was entirely demolished and the pillars for the part of building close to the street were poured.
Around 5,000 square meters was demolished.
In February 2017, the government of Serbia has decided to demolish most of the Building "A" construction with the obligation to re-build it to its original appearance once the country has the funds.
This sudden decision was explained with the high cost of the further reconstruction amounting to the estimated 7.66 million euros, while the demolition was estimated at 1.46 million euros.
Minister of Defence of Serbia, Zoran Đorđević said that experts advocated for this solution despite already paid first phase of the reconstruction, while the military experts condemned this decision.
On 9 March 2017, the Association of Serbian Architects (an informal, private group) launched an initiative for the submission of candidature for the
UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
, also saying that the Government of Serbia wanted to remove it from the register of cultural properties, but due to the long legal procedure resorted to the reconstruction.
The Association condemned the decision and marked it as a "definitive loss of our culture" as it is a "monument of suffering and brutality of NATO forces".
In March 2015, on the occasion of the 16th anniversary of the beginning of NATO intervention, the government of Serbia organized a ceremony in front of the ruined building which some observers interpreted as the evidence that the ruin has indeed become a ''de facto'' war monument.
;Proposals for other purposes
Over the years, there have been talks that the building could be turned into a luxurious hotel of
The Trump Organization
The Trump Organization is a group of about 500 business entities of which Donald Trump is the sole or principal owner. Around 250 of these entities use the Trump name. The organization was founded in 1927 by Donald Trump's paternal grandmother ...
. Following the reconstruction of Building "A" and later proposed demolition of the most of the construction,
Prime Minister of Serbia
The prime minister of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, премијерка Србије, premijerka Srbije; masculine: премијер/premijer), officially the president of the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, председница Влад ...
Aleksandar Vučić
Aleksandar Vučić ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Вучић, ; born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as the president of Serbia since 2017, and as the president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) since 2012.
Vučić served ...
, said that there are plans for the construction of Monument to
Stefan Nemanja
Stefan Nemanja (Serbian Cyrillic: , ; – 13 February 1199) was the Grand Prince ( Veliki Župan) of the Serbian Grand Principality (also known as Raška, lat. ) from 1166 to 1196. A member of the Vukanović dynasty, Nemanja founded the Nemanji ...
and Museum of
medieval Serbia
Serbia in the Middle Ages refers to the medieval period in the history of Serbia. The period begins in the 6th century with the Slavic migrations to Southeastern Europe, and lasts until the Ottoman conquest of Serbian lands in the second half ...
on the place of the Building "A".
Gallery
Yugoslav Ministry of Defence building - bombed.jpg, ''Damaged building "A"'' in 2006
Serbia-0405 - Nato Damage (7364784730).jpg, ''Damaged building "A"'' in 2012
Bělehrad, Kneza Miloša, bývalá budova generálního štábu.jpg, ''Damaged building "A"'' in 2019, showing some of the rubble cleared away as part of the post-2015 cleanup process.
File:Beograd 6.JPG, ''Damaged building "B"'' in 2013
File:P1150873cc.JPG, ''Damaged building facade'' in 2013
References
External links
{{Belgrade Architecture
Buildings and structures in Belgrade
Military of Yugoslavia
Military headquarters
Ruins in Serbia
1965 establishments in Yugoslavia
1960s establishments in Serbia
1999 disestablishments in Serbia
NATO airstrikes
Military installations of Yugoslavia
Attacks on military installations in the 1990s
Closed military installations
Attacks on government buildings and structures
Headquarters in Serbia
Savski Venac
Building bombings in Europe