The Mostar Bridge |
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Collection title
IT1 8 pm
First broadcast date
11/20/1993
Abstract
The Mostar Bridge, a symbol of the city was destroyed by Croatian artillery.
Amateur document describing the destruction of the bridge, with date and time.
The first picture 08/11/93 at 8:57 am: the first shots on the sides of the bridge. Explosions and smoke. The same day at 9:57: shelling. 3:52 p.m: the arch of the bridge is affected by the fire and cut in the middle. Stop shooting. Resumed on 09.11.93 at 10:16: the bridge collapses into a hellish smoke.
Overview of the mutilated.bridge.
Production companies
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TF1 - International Exchanges
Primary theme
Urbanism and cities
Secondary themes
- Contemporary historical challenges 19th-20th c.
- Historical heritages / Ottoman Empire
- Tourism and cultural sites / Architecture
Map locations
- Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bosnia - Mostar
Context
The bridge at Mostar
Cyril Isnart
The destruction of the bridge at Mostar, on November 9th 1993, was one of the actions most heavily charged with symbolism during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992-1995). The bridge was built in 1569, during the Ottoman occupation, in the heart of a thriving market town. The central districts of Mostar, which developed in the 16th century, showed that different religious and cultural groups lived together, and the bridge became an icon of Balkan multiculturalism. Under Austro-Hungarian rule in the 19th century, economic growth was accompanied by a relatively peaceful coexistence, and this was also true in the 20th century, when the existence of cultural and religious groups became more obvious, mainly because of the emphasis on national identities during the Communist Federation of Yugoslavia.
Between 1992 and 1995, the Muslim Slavs of Bosnia, or Bosniaks, the Orthodox Serbs and Christians Croats were the main military forces involved in the fighting. The clashes, first of all between Serbs and Croatian military groups, then between Croats and Bosniaks, destroyed the historic heart of Mostar, particularly the bridges which had allowed Bosnian fighters to get their provisions and thus control the eastern part of the city. In November 1993, the Croats decided to weaken the Bosnians permanently by targeting the “old bridge”, an Ottoman, therefore Muslim, symbol of the town.
In 1994, the international community and UNESCO began the reconstruction of Mostar’s old town. The bridge was completely rebuilt in 2004 and the surrounding districts were added to the World Heritage List in 2005 because of the way they symbolised peace efforts in the region: “With the renaissance of the old bridge, the symbolic power and meaning of the City of Mostar – as an exceptional and universal symbol of how communities from diverse cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds can live together – has been reinforced and strengthened, underlining the unlimited efforts of human solidarity for peace and powerful co-operation in the face of overwhelming catastrophes.”
Cattaruzza Amaël, Sintès Pierre 2012, Atlas géopolitique des Balkans : un autre visage de l'Europe, Paris, Autrement.
Rolland Stéphanie 2005, Mostar, le pont dans la Neretva. Analyse ethnologique des conflits identitaires entre Bosniaques et Croates au lendemain de la guerre, Thèse d’anthropologie, Université de Provence.
Sellier A. et Sellier D. 2007, Atlas des peuples d’Europe Centrale, Paris, La Découverte.
Sells Michael 1996, The Bridge Betrayed. Religion and Genocide in Bosnia, Berkeley, Univerisity of California Press.
