Original scientific paper
Censored books published by the Gustav Neuberg printing house during the First World War
Tamara Štefanac
orcid.org/0000-0002-5743-8738
; National and University Library in Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
*
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
The paper presents an overview of the censorship procedures of printed matter using the examples of two books published by the Križevci publisher, bookshop owner and printer Gustav Neuberg: The War for the Freedom of the Balkans 1912–13, Heroic and Bloody Sketches from the Balkan Battlefield in 1912–13 and the New Soldier’s Songbook. The paper focuses on the inductive analysis of the course of suspensive censorship during the First World War in Križevci and Bjelovar. The first part of the paper presents an overview of the social history of the book as an important theoretical framework for studying censorship, emphasizing the importance of researching and documenting the prohibitions of written cultural heritage preserved in archives, libraries and museums. The paper continues by analysing the legal framework that enabled or limited the operation of censorship in Croatia and Slavonia on the eve of and during the war. The analysis of cases of censorship of the aforementioned books is placed in the context of microhistory and the history of the book, where books are viewed as material objects with social significance. Special attention is paid to the role of the Royal University Library in Zagreb, today’s National and University Library in Zagreb, in preserving and transmitting information about banned and censored written materials. This highlights the importance of libraries not only as guardians of cultural heritage, but also as institutions that document and shed light on the mechanisms of power over written heritage throughout history.
Keywords
censorship; World War I; Gustav Neuberg; Marcel Vidačić; Maksimilijan Jurčić
Hrčak ID:
347290
URI
Publication date:
10.5.2026.
Visits: 367 *