Yugoslav Ministry of Defence building
| Yugoslav Ministry of Defence building Yugoslav General Staff |
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|---|---|
| Савезни секретариjaт за народну одбрану Savezni Sekretarijat za Narodnu Odbranu |
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The damaged Yugoslav Ministry of Defence building
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| General information | |
| Status | Damaged / disused |
| Type | Government building for the Ministry of Defense |
| Location |
 Nemanjina Street, Belgrade, Serbia
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| Coordinates | 44°48′20.2″N 20°27′40.5″E / 44.805611°N 20.461250°ECoordinates: 44°48′20.2″N 20°27′40.5″E / 44.805611°N 20.461250°E |
| Construction started | 1957 |
| Completed | 1965 |
| Closed | 1999 |
| Technical details | |
| Floor area | 49,235 m2 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Nikola Dobrović |
The Yugoslav Ministry of Defence building (Serbian: Savezni Sekretarijat za Narodnu Odbranu / Савезни секретариjaт за народну одбрану), also known as the Yugoslav General Staff (Serbian: Zgrada Generalštaba / Зграда Генералштаба) is a building that was previously occupied by the Ministry of Defense of Yugoslavia, a governmental department responsible for defending the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from internal and external military threats.
Considered to be a masterpiece of post-war architecture, it was bombed during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999.
The building was built between 1957 and 1965 and it was designed by Serbian architect, Nikola Dobrović. It is divided by Nemanjina Street, and its design is meant to resemble a canyon of the Sutjeska river, where one of the most significant battles of World War II in Yugoslavia was fought, with the street as a river dividing the two monumental, gradually completed tracts. As Nemanjina Street comes up the hill from the main railway station, the two parts of the building form a symbolic gate.
In addition to expressive cascading forms, facades are characterized by the application of contrasting materials - robust, brown-red stone from Kosjerić and white marble slabs from the island of Brač. The most striking visual motif representing the window bars on the facades, designed in the spirit of late modernism.
The first part of the building, standing across the Government of Serbia building in Kneza Miloša Street, is named Building "A" and has 12,654 square meters. The other part of the building, divided by Nemanjina Street, is named Building "B" and has 36,581 square meters.
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