Historical walks / Twentieth-century Zagreb · 1941–1991

Zagreb 1941–1991

A walk through a difficult and transformative half-century: wartime persecution, postwar socialist development and the city's changing everyday life. The history is treated directly, not as nostalgia.

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2hTrg žrtava fašizma, by the Meštrović PavilionStep-free route

The Meštrović Pavilion at Trg žrtava fašizma today

The Meštrović Pavilion at Trg žrtava fašizma in 1942

Meštrović Pavilion, Trg žrtava fašizma

The walk

A closer look

Wartime Zagreb

From 1941 to 1945, Zagreb was the capital of the Axis puppet Independent State of Croatia. Jews, Serbs and Roma faced persecution and deportation.

A large crowd gathered on Ban Jelačić Square under loudspeakers, the equestrian monument at right — A proclamation on Ban Jelačić Square

A city across the Sava

After the war, socialist-era expansion transformed Zagreb, including the development of Novi Zagreb south of the Sava.

The façade of a 1960s residential block — New housing in the 1960s

Towards 1991

The final decades of Yugoslavia gave way to political change and Croatian independence in 1991. The city's streets preserve traces of these shifts.

Ilica seen from above — Ilica from the air

A blue tram passing the Auto Hrvatska building — Zagreb in the 1960s

Orange trams and busy pavements in the city centre — City centre in the 1970s

A street with tram tracks, parked cars and a vehicle flying a flag — Zagreb in the 1980s

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Between Two Hills Agram Layers of Zagreb