Povijesni prilozi, Vol. 40 No. 60, 2021.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.22586/pp.v40i60.13832
Citizenry, City Administration, and Brothels in Zagreb around 1900
Lucija Bobek
Ines Sabotič
orcid.org/0000-0002-9244-4877
Abstract
Based on the archival sources preserved at the State Archive in Zagreb, the paper discusses the conflicts between citizenry, city administration, and the owners of Zagreb’s brothels at the end of the 19th century. In 1898, the city authorities decided to move all brothels in the city to one location, from the lower to the upper Kožarska Street. With industrialization, urbanization, and modernization, prostitution was becoming an increasingly widespread phenomenon in urban settings. Therefore, in Zagreb, as in other European cities, it was legally regulated by the reglementarist system, which means that brothels were allowed, but had to operate according to certain laws and regulation books, and were supervised by the local police. By moving all Zagreb brothels to a single location on the outskirts of the city, the city administration localized prostitution and facilitated police surveillance. But for the neighbours in the upper Kožarska, it was not the outskirts. The citizenry of the surrounding streets protested to protect their interests, primarily their families and properties, and out of concern for their reputation. The city administration did not respond positively to the citizens’ demands, but nevertheless decided to better regulate the work of brothels with the Prostitution Ordinance (1899). Between the two opposing parties, the citizens and the owners of brothels, the Zagreb administration gave preference to the brothels as a kind of legal economic activity. The reglementarist system defined brothels as a segment of city life and they were to be allowed to operate, at least on the outskirts.
Keywords
Zagreb; City Administration; citizenry; brothels; prostitution; reglementarist system
Hrčak ID:
260945
URI
Publication date:
19.7.2021.
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