Palace Albanija

Old kafana Kod Albanije in the 1910s, with the Belgrade's first public clock in front

Location of the building was previously occupied by the kafana named "Kod Albanije" ("Chez Albania"), which was built in 1860.[7] It was a small, unsightly, crummy house, yet the venue was very popular.[8] It was built in the oriental, Turkish style, with yellow façade. The original clientele included Ottoman seymen, merchants, hirelings, Serbian guardsmen, etc.[9]

The clock in front of the kafana was the first public clock in Belgrade.[10] As such, it became the most popular meeting point in the city.[4]

The owners, descendants of Krsta Tomović, were refusing to sell the lot by asking too much money for the parcel's 650 m² (7,000 sq ft). In 1936, the Mortgage Bank of the Merchant's Fund paid 8.5 million dinars for the lot, which was enough money to purchase 7 one-floor villas in the city's affluent villa populated neighborhood of Krunski Venac. The bank was drained so much by this transaction, that it took two years for it to recuperate, announcing the architectural design competition on 14 January 1938, with extremely short deadline, set for 28 February same year.[8] In total, 84 architects participated in the competition. Architect Milan Zloković proposed even higher edifice (15 storeys).[4]

The first prize wasn't awarded, which was kind of the usual action at the time, as it allowed for the investor to combine all the other projects. Nine works in total were chosen. Architect Miladin Prljević was chosen to combine the final design. He decided to go with two projects by the architects from Zagreb, one by Branko Bon and Milan Grakalić, and another by Hinko Bauer and Marijan Haberle. This caused the controversy as Bon and Grakalić claimed that their project was robbed, but Prljević replied that they actually robbed the project of Bauer and Haberle, where they worked as the assistants. The original documentation is not preserved so it is not known who plagiarized who. The bank already allocated the funds for the construction, so it pushed hard for the works to begin.[8]

Though small but highly popular, the demolition of the old kafana sparked mass demonstrations in 1938.[11] Despite its shabbiness and lack of sanitary and safety conditions, it existed on this location for almost 80 years. One of the regular customers was writer Branislav Nušić, who wrote about the kafana. Another reason for the protests was that the source for the new building's design was Germanic.[2] Nušić wrote in 1929 that the kafana will "stay forever".[12]

Parts of the public opposed the project citing reasons other than just the kafana demolition. Some reports claimed that such a large building, made of reinforced concrete, can't be supported by the settling ground below, so they predicted the building would collapse, so as the neighboring buildings. Others debunked the new, highly progressive construction techniques. Cases of residents from the surrounding building, who sold their apartments in the fear of possible collapse, were recorded. Newsoaoers described the repeated design competition as "anything goes".[4]

The project envisioned four floors below the ground. As the city government had no machinery required for the job, they invited the Kalmyks, emigrants from Russia, noted for their horses. With their horses and carts, the Kalmyks removed the rubble and earth from the foundation pit.[13]

In the relatively shallow depth, just below the old foundation, a well preserved skeleton of a mammoth was excavated in 1938, below the former door of the kafana. It was estimated to be 2 million years old, when the area of Belgrade was the edge of a Quaternary lake. The skeleton was almost undisturbed, with especially well preserved mandible with teeth, which were used to identify the species. The ribs and femurs were also in excellent shape. The bones were transported to the Museum of Serbian Land.[14]

Engineer Đorđe Lazarević, expert on statics, applied state of the art technics at the time. In the concrete supporting columns, he built it the expensive steel reinforcement, high above the standards in Belgrade in this period. Other above-standard solution included the high-strength concrete.[8]

Construction of the building began on 16 July 1938. It was finished 15 months later, and ceremonially opened on 20 October 1939, when World War II already began in other parts of Europe.[4] It was the first highrise building in Belgrade and for a long time the tallest one, dominating the architecture of Belgrade of the time.

The building was hit during the heavy „Easter bombing“ of Belgrade by the Allies on 16 April 1944.[15] Germans defended it fiercely during the 1944 Belgrade Offensive against the Red Army and Yugoslav Partisan forces. In the evening of 19 October 1944, 22-years-old Partisan Mladen Petrović placed the Yugoslav flag with red star on the top of Palace Albanija. Petrović was wounded while bringing the flag to the top of the building, but recuperated enough to participate in Syrmian Front, where he was killed, together with his brother.[2][16] Taking over the building opened the way for the Partisan army to the Belgrade Fortress and allowed the charge which liberated the wider area surrounding the Belgrade Main railway station, so just one day later the entire Belgrade was liberated.[17]

After the war, engineer Lazarević participated in the reconstruction of the building.[2] The façade was fully reconstructed from war scars only in 1958, when the original, Italian marble, was replaced with the cheaper, domestic one.[4]

Palace Albanija by night under the decorative lights

In the 2010s, the façade was equipped with the decorative lights. They are also used to color the façade in different patterns and shapes in order to celebrate or commemorate certain events.[1]

For a long time, the occupant of the building was "Beogradska Banka". The bank started a bankruptcy procedure in 2002, which is still not finished, but ever since then the bank has been closed and the building hasn't been properly maintained. In May 2019, the pieces of the façade began to fall off. The Institute for the protection of the monuments stated that the drafting of the project will be done in 2020, without setting a date when will the thorough reconstruction start. The institute also instructed the bank what needs to be done as the "first aid" before the total reconstruction, but the bank which has been non-operational for 17 years, has no funds for it.[1] As the city is not the owner of the building, the complete reconstruction is not an option, but in December 2019 city announced reconstruction of the façade, which should be finished in 2021.[12]

The twin building of Albanija, colloquially styled "Little Albanija" (Mala Albanija), is located at the corner of the Pop Lukina and Kosančićev Venac streets. It was also designed by Miladin Prljević. Though originally only one skyscraper was planned, it was later decided that three buildings will be built, sharing the same or similar appearance and characteristics. The architectural design of the Little Albanija is patterned after the Palace Albanija and represents its smaller version. The building is officially known as the "House of Siniša Zdravković" or the "House of the Brothers Zdravković". It was finished in 1940, immediately after Palace Albanija. It is not protected by itself, but it is a part of the Kosančićev Venac historical-spatial unit which is protected by the law.[2]

Mitić Hole in the Slavija Square, location of the planned, even higher, twin tower of Albanija

Third twin was to be built on the Slavija Square. It was to be built on the land of major merchant Vlada Mitić, one of the richest people in Belgrade at the time, and was announced as the "Mitić Warehouse" or the "Mitić Tower", the largest department store in the Balkans. The planned building was to be taller than Palace Albanija itself. The outbreak of the World War II in Yugoslavia in 1941 halted the works, though the foundations for the building were laid.[2]

The ill fortune of the location of the "third Albanija" since then spurred an urban myth in Belgrade, and the place became known as a jinxed and cursed property named Mitićeva rupa ("Mitić hole"). After the war, Communist government imprisoned Vlada Mitić and confiscated his entire property, including the lot on which the tower was planned and funds prepared for its construction. From 1946 to 1980 26 different project were completed for the lot, but none was realized.[19]

Then mayor of Belgrade, Bogdan Bogdanović decided to put a large sundial in the place in the first half of the 1980s. In the early 1990s, Dafiment banka, one of the major Ponzi schemes of the Milošević's regime, bought the lot and announced a monumental shopping mall, but after the scheme failed completely, the lot was fenced and turned into the dump. After the regime change in 2000, the area was cleaned and a temporary park with children playground was built instead. The failed projects continued, including the ultra-modern, gigantic shopping mall by the Israeli investors which turned out to be a complete hoax.[20]