Independent State of Croatia - Culture

Culture

Soon after establishment of the NDH, the Yugoslav Academy of Science and Arts was renamed the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The country had four state theatres: Zagreb, Osijek, Dubrovnik and in Sarajevo. The Croatian State Theatre in Zagreb played host to the Berlin Philharmonic and the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in the 1941/42 season. Volumes two to five of Mate Ujević's Croatian Encyclopedia were published during this period. The NDH was represented at the 1942 Venice Biennale, where the works of Joza Kljaković, Ivan Meštrović, Ante Motika, Ivo Režek, Bruno Bulić, Josip Crnobori, Antun Medić, Slavko Kopač and Slavko Šohaj were presented by Vladimir Kirin.

The existing University of Zagreb was re-named the Croatian University (Serbo-Croatian: Hrvatsko sveučilište), and was the only university in the NDH. The university established a pharmaceutical faculty in 1942, and a medical faculty in Sarajevo in 1944. It also opened the University Hospital Zagreb, which later became one of the largest hospitals in Croatia.

The state had two secular holidays; the anniversary of its establishment was commemorated on 10 April and the assassination of Stjepan Radić was commemorated on 20 June 1928. In addition, the state granted holidays to several religious communities:

• The Catholic community celebrated New Year's Day, Epiphany, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, the feast of Saint Joseph, Easter, the feast of the Ascension of Jesus, Pentecost, the feast of Corpus Christi, the Assumption of Mary, the feast of All Saints, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, and Christmas.
• The Eastern Orthodox community celebrated New Year's Day, the Epiphany, the feast of the Annunciation, Easter, the feast of the Ascension of Jesus, Pentecost, the Assumption of Mary, and Christmas, all according to the Roman calendar.
• The Evangelical community celebrated New Year's Day, Holy Friday, Easter, the feast of the Ascension of Jesus, Pentecost, Reformation Day, Christmas Eve, and Christmas.
• The Muslim community celebrated Islamic New Year, Mevlud (Mawlid), Ramadan, and Kurban-Bajram (Eid al-Adha).

The state film institute, Hrvatski slikopis, produced many films, including Straža na Drini and Lisinski. The Croatian cinema pioneer Oktavijan Miletić, was active during this period. In 1943, Zagreb hosted the I. International Congress for Narrow Film.

On 29 April 1941 the Decree on building Croatian workers' family homes was issued which resulted in the development of so-called Pavelić neighbourhoods in the state's larger northern cities: Karlovac, Osijek, Sisak, Varaždin, and Zagreb. The neighbourhoods were largely based on similar workers housing in Germany. They are characterized by their wide avenues and lots, and for largely being made up of semi-detached homes.