Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.17018/portal.2025.26
Beginnings and Concepts of Restoration the Zagreb Cathedral in the 1870s
Dragan Damjanović
; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Odsjek za povijest umjetnosti
Sažetak
The paper analyses texts written by Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer, Iso Kršnjavi (Croatia’s first art historian), Canon Franjo Rački of the Zagreb Kaptol, writer August Šenoa, and jurist and writer Ladislav (Lacko) Mrazović about the restoration of Zagreb Cathedral during the 1870s and early 1880s. These writings are compared to the 1878 project and programme for the restoration of the cathedral by Viennese architect Friedrich Schmidt, which are briefly contextualized alongside contemporary restoration efforts in Europe.
For decades, the starting point of the Schmidt-Bollé restoration of Zagreb Cathedral has been considered Bishop Strossmayer’s pamphlet published in Katolički list in 1874. The pamphlet outlined a restoration programme that would largely be realized. Strossmayer proposed a complete reconstruction of the main façade with the addition of two towers, the installation of a rose window above the main portal, and the removal of Baroque stylistic elements from the main portal. He also believed that full-height windows should be opened on side façades, chapels that had been added to the north and south sides of the church should be removed, and the newer sacristy and lavatories located along the north side of the sanctuary should be dismantled. Further suggestions included levelling the roof height and covering it with glazed tiles, erecting finials above the buttresses, and removing the archbishop’s library in front of the church. Strossmayer deemed it necessary to ‘correct’ architectural irregularities in the interior, particularly by removing the later vault in the sanctuary, and the arcades and pillars between the large piers in the eastern part of the church. He also advocated the removal of nearly all furnishings from the church, including all altars, chancel (the choir and the archbishop’s oratory) and organs, and nearly all the tombstones. Perceiving the cathedral not only as a sacred building but also as a monument, Strossmayer presented its restoration as a national duty. To successfully undertake the project, it was essential to find a capable architect who would scientifically restore the cathedral to its original appearance.
Although he was neither politically nor personally close to Zagreb’s Archbishop, Cardinal Josip Mihalović, Strossmayer managed, through persistence and the mediation of Canon Franjo Rački, to initiate the restoration of the cathedral and secure Friedrich Schmidt, a Viennese architect, to design the project.
After years of preparation, Schmidt was finally entrusted with the restoration of the cathedral in 1877. In May 1878, he completed the first version of his project for Zagreb, incorporating most of Strossmayer’s recommendations, although he also showed some caution by reducing the overall costs.
The influence of Strossmayer’s 1874 proclamation is evident not only in Schmidt’s project, but also in the texts of numerous authors published during the conceptualization phase of the restoration from 1878 to 1880. As a common thread in these texts, there is admiration for the cathedral and faith in the scientific approach to restoration. Through this process, the cathedral was to be returned to its medieval state and/or completed, its style unified, and traces of later interventions eliminated. Thus, the notion of reverting to the original state (in various interpretations of the term) appears in all the texts. There is also a common understanding of the cathedral as a historic national monument that needs to be aestheticized, renovated in a stylistically appropriate manner, and made structurally sound. The restoration was framed as a duty to the nation and civilization. Authors who referenced similar restoration projects in other parts of Europe exclusively cited examples from the western regions of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (Vienna, Prague), German lands (Bamberg, Speyer) and France (Paris). None of the authors explicitly mentioned the architect as a role model, except for their praise of Schmidt.
Some authors saw the restoration of the cathedral as an opportunity to develop local crafts and art, which would later be Kršnjavi’s key motive when initiating similar projects for other sacred and public buildings in Croatia. While most advocated removing the majority of the church’s existing furnishings, there were some differences. Šenoa was fascinated by its picturesque quality, as evidenced by his descriptions of the cathedral after the 1880 earthquake, and did not emphasize the need for their removal.
The texts analysed also introduce terms still used today when discussing interventions characteristic of 19th-century stylistic restorations, such as analogy, a method of supplementing missing elements through comparison with similar buildings, and conservation, used to describe minor intervention on preserved parts of medieval structures.
The restoration of the Zagreb cathedral shares many similarities with projects carried out throughout 19th-century Europe. It is a prime example of stylistic restoration as defined by Jukka Jokilehto. The comprehensive approach to the Zagreb cathedral is closely comparable to interventions in the first half and middle of the 19th century on cathedrals in Bamberg and Speyer, as well as the late-19thcentury restoration projects on churches in Hungary (cathedral in Pécs, Church of Our Lady in Budapest).
Ključne riječi
Zagreb cathedral; stylistic restoration; Friedrich Schmidt; Josip Juraj Strossmayer; Iso Kršnjavi; Franjo Rački; Ivan Tkalčić; Viollet-le-Duc; August Šenoa; Ladislav Mrazović
Hrčak ID:
342774
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.12.2025.
Posjeta: 403 *