a city in Yugoslavia; capital of the Socialist Republic of Croatia. Second largest and most important city in the country (after Belgrade). Located on the left bank of the Sava River, at the foot of a spur of the Medvednica Mountain Range. Population, 566,000 (1971; with suburbs, 850,000). Junction of railroad and motor-vehicle routes extending from Western and Central Europe to the Adriatic Sea and the Balkan Peninsula; there is an airport.
Zagreb is the industrial center of Yugoslavia (10-12 percent of the country’s industrial production; 90,000 industrial workers). It has a well developed heavy industry, producing machine tools (the May Day factory), electrical equipment (the Zagreb Rade Končar factory), and equipment for the chemical and food industries and for light industry. There is also a considerable chemical industry (the large OKI chemical combine), as well as printing, building-materials, wood-products, paper, textile, leather footwear, and food industries. The city has major publishing houses and is the scene of annual international fairs (in April and September). The Yugoslav Academy of Sciences, the University of Zagreb (founded in 1669), an institute of nuclear physics, numerous institutions of higher learning, and several theaters are located in the city.
Zagreb was first mentioned in sources in 1094 as the center of the bishopric. In 1242 it became a free crown city. In the mid-16th century it became Croatia’s main city, and in the first half of the 17th century it became the residence of the ban (royal vicegerent). From 1526 to 1918, under the German name Agram, it was part of the Hapsburg Empire. In 1918 it became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (since 1929, Yugoslavia). From 1941 to 1945 it was the main city of the puppet (fascist) “Independent Croatian State.” It was liberated in May 1945 by the forces of the People’s Liberation Army of Yugoslavia.
The districts of Kaptol and Gradec (the Upper City), situated on hills, constitute the oldest part of Zagreb; there are remnants of fortifications from the 13th to 18th centuries, a cathedral (13th to 15th centuries; neo-Gothic western facade, 19th century), the Gothic Church of St. Mark (14th and 15th centuries, reconstructed in the 17th and 19th centuries; the interior contains works by the sculptor I. Meštrović), the baroque Church of St. Catherine (1632) and the bishop’s palace (c. 1730-19th century), with the chapel of St. Stephen (mid-13th century), and palaces in the baroque and classical styles. Beginning in the second half of the 19th century, a new center of the city took shape to the south, with regular blocks and imposing structures in eclectic and neoclassical style (the Yugoslav Academy, 1880; the Croatian National Theater, 1894-95; and the Stock Exchange, 1923-27). Since the second half of the 1940’s, public buildings (the City Hall, the Worker’s University, the airport, and pavilions for the international fairs), new residential districts with multistory towered structures (Trnsko, Zaprudje, and others), and sports complexes have been constructed. The museums of Zagreb include the Museum of the People’s Revolution, the Gallery of Old Masters (the Strossmayer Gallery), the Modern Gallery of the Yugoslav Academy, the Gallery of the City of Zagreb, the Museum of Arts and Crafts, and archaeological and ethnographic museums.