It doesn’t look like much, but the Yugoslav Ministry of Defence building was considered a masterpiece of post-war architecture. Today, it is better known as one of the most famous ruins of Yugoslavian history, and we went there to examine this vital piece of recent history.
The Yugoslav Ministry of Defence building, also known as the Yugoslav General Staff Complex, was occupied by the Ministry of Defence of Yugoslavia and was responsible for internal and external military threats. As you can see in the pictures we took there, it was bombed and heavily damaged during the NATO bombing of Belgrade in 1999.
I was a teenager when the bombings happened. Still, I remember watching the news with my family and learning what I could about what was happening in former Yugoslavian countries. I remember reading about the Kosovo conflict and how Serbia and the North Atlantic Council dealt with it.
But I was a student in Brazil then, and everything seemed completely different from my world. This feeling changed when I stood on a sidewalk in Belgrade and looked at what had happened in April 1999.
Before the Ruins of the Yugoslavian Army Headquarters
Before it became the ruins you can see in the pictures here, the Yugoslav Army Headquarters was considered an excellent example of post-war architecture in Belgrade. It was built between 1957 and 1965, and Nikola Dobrović is the Serbian architect responsible for it.
The building lies on both sides of Nemanjina Street and was designed with this in mind. This is why it was created as part of a canyon on the Sutjeska River. This river was the location of one of the most critical battles of the Second World War in Yugoslavia, and this is where the symbology comes from.
Also, I liked to observe how the building had some cascading forms, built of different materials that contrast sharply with the modern-looking windows on the larger side of the building. I can only imagine how interesting this looked before it became one of the most famous ruins of Yugoslavian history.
At the end of April 1999, the history of this building changed forever. The NATO bombing of former Yugoslavia was already in its 40 days, and the target was Belgrade this time. The Yugoslav Army Headquarters was bombed twice in less than 15 minutes, and nine days later, in May, it was attacked again.
The building was empty at the time of the bombing, and most people believe that it was bombed for its symbolic importance and not for any military reason. The building represented the Serbian state that was murdering people in Kosovo, and NATO wanted to take a stand and show Serbia what it could do.
Today, the Yugoslav Army Headquarters lies in ruins, and it was only in 2005 that the area was protected as a monument of culture, a memorial to the 1999 NATO bombing. And what I was told it’s the suffering of Serbia.
If you look at some of the pictures on Wikipedia, you can see that there are some differences between what we saw there and what used to exist as the most famous ruins of Yugoslavia in Belgrade. The middle section of one of the buildings was removed to prevent a total collapse, and some pillars were added to the construction to keep it in the same place.
Today, it is weird to think about what happened in the streets of Belgrade. It’s even stranger to be able to stand in front of a war ruin like this one and think about what happened here a little more than 20 years ago. But this is an essential part of the experience of visiting Belgrade, and I advise everyone to spend some time there.
Fotostrasse visited Belgrade for a couple of days back in March 2020. We stayed at the Belgrade Center Luxury Apartments, and you should do the same.
Also, if urban exploration is your thing, don’t do it here. There are soldiers and cameras everywhere.
A Visit to the Ruins of the Yugoslav Ministry of Defence building in Belgrade
Кнеза Милоша 33-41, Београд 11000
RF46+GJ Belgrade, Serbia
