The Chamber of Trade and Industry in Rijeka (1811-1924)

Abstract

The Chamber of Trade and Industry in Rijeka was a state and professional institution that unrestrictedly and persistently stimulated, directed and registered the economic development of Rijeka. Such a professional organization, a social association and an economic subject in the same time, was a stimulating business mediator and informer, as well as a peace-making arbiter between partners. In all aspects of its activity the Chamber was an evident testimony to the economic situation, and to the positive and negative results of political and historical conditions, events and changes in the period of its existence. This historical survey shows the possibilities offered by the study of historical sources on one institution that is testimony to the fact that Rijeka was an emporium of continental importance, particularly regarding the Central European and Mediterranean region. The pre-history of today’s Economic Chamber of Rijeka, its predecessors: The Chamber of Trade (1811-1814), the Trade Deputation (informally 1814-1829, officially 1829-1856), the Chamber of Trade and Commerce (1852-1924), is the basis for the understanding of the economic development of Rijeka during the last two centuries, and of all political aberrations that made this development more difficult. The Author presents only a sketch of this historical course.