History of Zagreb

Zagreb was founded in 1094 by the Hungarian king Ladislaus I along the left bank of the Medvescak. A fortified town began it's development about the same time on the neighbouring hill, later united with Zagreb. The meaning of Zagreb is "behind the hill". Both parts were devastated in 1242 by the Tatar invasion, which led to further fortification. In the centuries of Turkish expansion, the new system of walls surrounded the whole city.

Zagreb received the privileges of a free royal town early in the medieval, and gradually became an administrative and political centre of the region, the headquarter of the Croatian viceroy in the 17th century, and the seat of the Croatian Royal Council in the 18th century. The University of Zagreb was founded in 1669, being one of the oldest and largest is Southern-Europe. National, economic, political and cultural development became more intense in the 19th century, the first railroad and a horse tram were introduced, the gasworks and waterworks began operation, and the surrounding industry was in a boom.

After the First World War the Croatian Diet decided for the independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Zagreb. In the brief period of the independent state of Croatia during the Second World War Zagreb became the official centre, and the centre of resistance as well. The post-war communist government caused overall stagnation in the economy, but the population of the city was rising, and the high-rise suburbs developed. During the war of independence Zagreb saw little fighting. Since 1995, as the capital of Croatia the city is on the way to becoming a Central European metropolis.