ZAGREB, 6 Nov 2021 - A book about emigrants and returnees in the period of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, that is the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, written by historian Darija Hofgräff Marić was launched in the Croatian State Archives on Friday evening.

The 210-page book deals with the emigration of the Croats in the second half of the 19th century and in the first four decades of the 20th century and particularly with the care for orphans of deceased expats.

The book reviewer, Professor Ulf Brunnbauer, whose research is mainly devoted to the social history of Southeastern Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries, said during the presentation of the book the emigration had been the Croatian continuity in the last 100 years.

Author Darija Hofgräff Marić said that her book focused on the legal and institutional framework of the protection of expats and returnees.

She also said that she found it irritating when emigrations were commented on only in negative terms. The processes of migrations have both good and bad sides, she said adding that her own experience had proven that. Hofgräff Marić, born in Zenica, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, began her tertiary education in Sarajevo in the 1989/1990 academic year, however, due to the war she had to leave Bosnia and Herzegovina and she finished that education in 2006 in Zagreb.

She said that the Croatians are prone to complaining about states and state institutions. However, not everything is up to the states and state authorities, and all of us have personal and civic responsibility and we can take bottom-up initiatives, Hofgräff Marić said.

For more about the Croatian Diaspora, visit our dedicated page here.

July 9, 2021 - Zagreb Grič Cannon - a reminder of noon, and a reason to avoid the centre if you aren't a fan of loud sounds. Get your noise-canceling headphones and read about the cannon's history, courtesy of TCN reporter Ivor Kruljac.

If you find yourself walking around a wider Zagreb centre (such as Savska Cesta or Marin Držić Avenue) around noon, and you focus on the sounds of the city, you may notice a weird sound in between traffic and people passing. An unusual sound, as if someone dropped a heavy box. But, if around noon, you find yourself at Ban Jelačić square or upper town, you will hear a clear and loud BANG! Fear not, as this is not a terrorist attack, and you weren't lied to when your tourist agency swore to god Zagreb is safe from such horrors. The heart-stopping bang is a signifier of noon. If you hear a boom at 11:59 or 12:01, your watch is behind a minute. The cannon states that clear and very, very loud.

Loudest time checker you could think of

Grič cannon first started signaling noon on January 1, 1877, and was located at the State's Meteorology department, back in times when Croatia was part of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy. It wasn't until 1927 that it was moved to Fort Lotršćak where it is situated today.

According to the Klovićevi Dvori Gallery's official website, Fort Lotrščak was named after a bell and comes from campana latrunculorum, which is Latin for „Bell of Thieves“ that rang before closing city gates. Historians aren't exactly sure what the Fort looked like in medieval times, although it is speculated based on old sketches that it had only two floors. It wasn't until 1857 that romanticistic architecture gave the fortress today's four floors and an additional tower at the very top (from which you have a breath-taking view of Zagreb today).

Fort Lotrščak © Ivor Kruljac / Total Croatia News

In the 17th century, the Fort served as trading storage and had various other ways to adapt to the need of Zagreb and Zagreb's citizens at different times. At one point, when the City was out of money to restore and repair the Fort, it gave Lotrščak to citizens for rent. Citizens who wanted the Fort also had the obligation of maintaining it, and in case of enemy assault, it was to be returned back to the City for defense purposes.  

Warning shot 

Speaking of defense purposes, an old legend says how this cannon managed to save Zagreb with a single shot from the Ottoman conquerors. Legend has it that the Ottoman commander Hasan Pasha (Hasan Paša) settled his army at the coast of the Sava river, in today's area of Novi Zagreb. He was preparing to cross the river and invade the city. But before that, he was about to have lunch one day, and Zagreb fired from the cannon in the Ottoman's direction, close to Hasan and blasting a chicken he wanted to eat. The shot scared the hell out of the Ottomans and they retreated, leaving Zagreb intact.

Changing arsenal

Over the course of time, there were five different Grič cannons that served the purpose of signaling noon. The current canon was given during Zagreb's Univerzijada in 1987, courtesy of the Yugoslavian National Army (JNA) as Croatia at the time was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ).

As for the first three, you can find them today in the collection of the Zagreb City Museum. The first cannon originated in 1876 and was replaced by the second cannon in the unidentified year at the end of the 19th century. The third cannon you can see in Zagreb City Museum, and the first that was situated on Lotrščak fort, was introduced in 1928, and it was made by restoring a Polish cannon from 1912.

Three cannons showcased at Zagreb City Museum  © Ivor Kruljac / Total Croatia News   

So finding yourself in front of Fort Lotrščak (whose entrance is located right next to the Upper town funicular station) is not recognizable if you are not a fan of loud noise as it can give you a sound fright even down below at Jelačić square and the surrounding area. But, for the brave ones, the Grič cannon can provide a unique souvenir from Zagreb. It doesn't use live ammo (the cannon is modified so it can't), but it does fire several pieces of thick cardboard that then flies down to the area underneath Lotrščak's entrance and smelling like gunpowder.

Ceased fire

Despite being a regular background sound for the experience of living in Zagreb, Grič cannon went through periods when it ceased fire and stopped making statements. The first such instance was World War I and then followed by the war in the nineties. Most recently, the cannon was silenced after the Zagreb earthquake on March 22, 2020, but it re-fired hot and heavy sometimes in May 2020. However, followed by the December 29th Petrinja earthquake, which was also felt heavy in Zagreb, the cannon is silent even today.

„We are not quite sure when it will re-fire“, briefly commented the Zagreb Tourist Board member that welcomed me in Fort Lotrščak, one of the locations where Zagreb TB has a regular stand. Still, despite the cannon being silenced, you can climb and sightsee Lotrščak, the famous cannon as well as the watchtower on top of the Fort, for the prize of 20 kunas.

One of the exhibitions at Lotrščak © Kula Lotrščak

The Lotrščak Fort address is Tomićeva 9, and the Fort occasionally also hosts various exhibitions at times too. But, the cannon is a regular feature, and there are lots of info on the history of the cannon and the Fort itself there too on the walls- both in English and Croatian.    

Learn more about Zagreb on our TC page.

For more about history in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 24th of May, 2019, a protected three-storey building in the Dalmatian town of Omiš, which operated for 97 years as a factory and was constructed back during Austro-Hungarian rule will be redesigned into no less than a hotel in the next two years.

''The Croatian brand of pasta "Cetina" will remain, we've preserved it, as well as all of the jobs from the pasta factory. Twenty-two workers were taken care of, we've all sorted everyting out,'' Ivica Babić, the owner of the bakery and the sales chain "Babić" stated clearly after being requested to shed light on the situation by Slobodna Dalmacija. As of June the 1st, the former pasta factory in Omiš will end its work, after 97 long years.

Namely, the building on the eastern outskirts of Omiš, located at the mouth of Cetina, next to the town's harbour, will be converted into a hotel and thus end the work of the old factor that was otherwise in operation for almost 100 years.

''Nobody's getting put out of work, there are no dismissals. We've made sure to give jobs to all of our workers according to their respective capabilities, someone will be a driver, another will be a salesman... We've had two requests for severance pay, which we have taken care of properly,'' Babić stated when discussing the fate of employees who worked in the factory, which was sold to Krunoslav Šarić two years ago, but the well-known and popular Dalmatian "manistra" continued to be producted, and it will continue to do so, until the very beginning of next month.

''With our strategic partnership we've ensured that the brand will remain, but now production will be relocated to Čakovec. It was necessary to optimise the production of pasta, and because the "Cetina" building in Omiš was dilapidated, it was necessary to invest large amounts of money in its reconstruction or move the factory from the city centre to a more suitable place for production,'' revealed the boss of the Babić chain, expressing his satisfaction with the fact that they have been able to successfully preserve the brand "Cetina", as well as provide new jobs for the factory's former workers.

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