City tour passing by Croatian National Theater

During one of our historical city sightseeing tour we are driving around Croatian National Theater and here you can read something about it famous history.

The development of European cities in the second half of the 19th century and the new urban renewal in which theaters held an exceptionally significant place, were an indicator of the power of liberal citizenry; between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of WWI, 1,500 theater buildings were erected in Europe. New theater buildings were built throughout Croatia and the capital could not have lingered behind. The idea of erecting a more equipped building had already appeared in 1871, but no action was taken all until the earthquake in 1880, which considerably damaged the upper town theater, therefore raising the issue of a new theatre. The theatre council, led by the Croatian writer and Member of Parliament Marijan Derencina, began the action of gathering funds and submitted to the Government a detailed petition on the need for constructing a new building. From two architects Helmer and Fellner, he ordered blueprints. Count Karlo Khuen-Héderváry, as the new Croatian governor from 1883, restored the discussions on the location and only Isidor Krsnjavi succeeded to convince him to make the final decision on the construction. The town discussion on the location was interrupted by Khuen-Héderváry’s decision that the future theater will be built on the location of the city market; despite the disputes of that time that this location was on the outskirts of the city, from a developmental vision of the city, his decision proved to be good. The new theater (today on the Marshal Tito Square) is surrounded by numerous buildings of high monumental value from the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

The new theater was ceremoniously opened on October 14, 1895, when at 2 pm the emperor Franz Joseph I on a balcony column before numerous citizens of Zagreb, symbolically performed the final blow with a silver hammer that was sculpted for that occasion by Robert Franges Mihanovic.

The ceremonial curtain is painted by Vlaho Bukovac. The paintings on the ceiling of the auditorium were created by the Viennese painter and decorator Alexander Demetrius Goltz. The ceiling of the Foyer on the first floor was painted by Ivan Tisov. In 115 years of its existence the building of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb underwent two renovations.

Today, in Croatian National Theater you can enjoy opera, ballet and drama. All of them are continuously filling auditorium. Actors, dances and singers from all around the world come to perform on our historical boards.