| Kragujevac Крагујевац |
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| — City — | |||
| Gymnasium with monument to Vuk Karadžić | |||
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| Location of Kragujevac within Serbia | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Serbia | ||
| District | Šumadija | ||
| Municipalities | 5 | ||
| Founded | 1476 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Veroljub Stevanović | ||
| • Ruling parties | Together for Šumadija | ||
| Area | |||
| • City | 835 km2 (322.4 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2011)[1][2] | |||
| • City | 147,281 | ||
| • Urban | 177,468 | ||
| • Urban density | 559.10/km2 (215.87/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 34000 | ||
| Area code(s) | (+381) 34 | ||
| Car plates | KG | ||
| Website | www.kragujevac.rs | ||
Kragujevac (Serbian Cyrillic: Крагујевац, pronounced [krǎɡujeʋat͡s] ( listen)) is the fourth largest city in Serbia, the main city of the Šumadija region and the administrative centre of Šumadija District. It is situated on the banks of the Lepenica River. According to official,results of the 2011 census, the city has a population of 147,281 inhabitants, while municipality has a population of 177,468.
Kragujevac was the first capital of modern Serbia (1818–1839), and the first constitution in the Balkans was proclaimed in this city in 1835. Further on, the first full- fledged university in the newly independent Serbia was founded in 1838, preceded by the first grammar school (Gimnazija), Printworks (both in 1833), professional National theatre (1835) and the Military academy (1837).
Belgrade took the lead by becoming the seat of the throne in 1841. The University of Kragujevac was not reestablished until 1976. Contemporary Kragujevac is known for its weapons, munition, and Zastava Automobiles company.
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The name of the town derived from the archaic Serbian word "kraguj", which is a name used for a particular species of hawk, thus the name means "hawk's nesting place". Interestingly, old maps show the name as Krakow.
Kragujevac experienced a lot of historical turbulence, not always without severe casualties. Over 200 archaeological sites in Šumadija confirm that the region's first human settlements occurred 40,000 years ago, during the Paleolithic era. Kragujevac was first mentioned in the medieval period as related to the public square built in a settlement, while the first written mention of the city was in the Turkish Tapu-Defter in 1476. Turkish documents from the 15th century refer to it as a "village of Kragujevdza". The town itself gained prominence during the Ottoman period (1459–1804) as the central point in the Belgrade Pashaluk.
The city is located at crossroads. Given this location, the city has been devastated many times and has suffered great losses of life in a number of wars throughout history. It began to prosper after Serbia's liberation from Turkish rule in 1818, when Prince Miloš Obrenović proclaimed it the capital of the new Serbian State and built the Amidža Konak. The first Serbian constitution was proclaimed here in 1835 and the first idea of independent electoral democracy. The first law on the printing press was passed in Kragujevac in 1870. Kragujevac, the capital, was developing and cherishing modern, progressive, free ideas and resembled many European capitals of that time.
Apart from contemporary political influence, Kragujevac became the cultural and educational center of Serbia. Important institutions built during that time include Serbia's first secondary school (Gimnazija), first pharmacy, and first printing press. Kragujevac gave rise to many international scholars, professors, academics, scientists, artists and statesmen.
The turning point in the overall development of Kragujevac was in 1851 when the Cannon Foundry began production, beginning a new era in the city’s economic development. The main industry of the 19th and 20th century was military production. Kragujevac became one of Serbia’s largest exporters in 1886, when the main Belgrade – Niš railway connected through Kragujevac.
New centuries brought new wars. During World War I, Kragujevac again became the capital of Serbia (1914–1915), and the seat of many state institutions - even the Supreme Army Command was housed within the Court House building. During the war, Kragujevac lost 15% of its population.
The social aspect, especially theater life in Kragujevac between the two wars was very vibrant. First cultural event in the liberated Kragujevac in 1918 was the establishment of the Theater Gundulic that worked only one season and moved to Belgrade,
Following the model of Academic Theater in Belgrade formation in 1924 at the initiative of Kragujevac Scholars Academic Theater was established there, too that supported contemporary ideas, modern approach to stage, live word and repertoire, thus gaining the reputation of a serious art organization. There were many other cultural institutions in the city which began to grow into a large cultural and industrial hub of Central Serbia.
Kragujevac underwent a number of ordeals, the worst probably having been the October massacre during World War II. The Kragujevac massacre was the slaughter of 2,300 to 5,000 civilians—mostly Serbs and Roma— by Nazi soldiers between 19–21 October 1941.[3] Staniša Brkić, curator of The Museum of 21 October, published a book in 2007 where he listed names and personal data of 2,796 victims.[4] The killings went on from October 19 to October 21, 1941, in retaliation for a partisan attack on German soldiers. 50 people were killed if a German soldier was wounded, while 100 were slaughtered if a German soldier was killed. Among the killed was a whole generation of boys taken directly from schools. A monument for the executed pupils is a symbol of the city. This atrocity has inspired a poem called "Krvava Bajka" ("Bloody Fairy Tale") by Desanka Maksimović, a well known Serbian poet from the former Yugoslavia.
In the post-war period, Kragujevac developed more industry. Its main exports were passenger cars, trucks and industrial vehicles, hunting arms, industrial chains, leather, and textiles. The biggest industry, and the city's main employer was Zastava, which employed tens of thousands. The industry suffered under economic sanctions during the Milošević era, and was all but destroyed by the NATO bombing campaign in 1999. Despite a possible deal with the Italian auto manufacturer, Fiat, to reopen the factory, the city currently suffers from widespread unemployment.
Since 1976, Kragujevac has grown as a university centre. The University of Kragujevac includes the Faculties of Medicine, Engineering, Law, Economics, Philology, Arts, Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
The city of Kragujevac is divided into the following municipalities:
List of settlements in the municipalities of Kragujevac:
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Kragujevac has been an important industrial and trading centre in Serbia for over two centuries. The city's industry are best known by its automotive production and firearms manufacturing. The former state-owned Zastava Automobiles company was founded in 1953 and produced the well known, Yugo subcompact brand of vehicles. Zastava was sold to Fiat in 2008, with Fiat pledging to invest 700 million euros into the company now renamed as Fiat Automobiles Serbia. Weapons manufacturung in Kragujevac began in 1853 and has since grown to become Serbia's primary supplier of firearms through the Zastava Arms corporation.
Ethnic groups in the municipal area of Kragujevac (including all municipalities) as of 2002:
| Ethnicity | Number |
|---|---|
| Serbs | 170,147 |
| Roma | 1,154 |
| Yugoslavs | 401 |
| Macedonians | 326 |
| Croats | 204 |
| Muslims | 151 |
| Other | 3,197 |
| Total | 175,577 |
Results of the 2008 local elections:[5]
The architecture of Kragujevac displays a fusion of two different styles—traditional Turkish (nowadays almost completely gone) and 19th century Vienna Secession style. Modern conceptions also appear throughout the city, firstly in the shape of post-war concrete (usually apartments designed to house those left homeless during World War II), and secondly the up-to-date glass offices reflecting the ambitious business aspects of modern architects.
Some important buildings and institutions in Kragujevac include:
The city is home to the Bandy Federation of Serbia.[6] The team of Kragujevac plays against the one from Subotica. FK Slavija is the association football team for the city.
Kragujevac is twinned with:[7]
The town has other forms of cooperation and city friendship similar to the twin/sister city programmes with:
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