Memorial Bust of Josip Runjanin

The Memorial Bust of Josip Runjanin stands in a public space in Glina, a small town in the Banovina region of central Croatia, and honours the man who composed the melody of the Croatian national anthem, Lijepa naša domovino, which means Our Beautiful Homeland, a work that Croatians sing at national occasions. While it is a modest monument, but it commemorates a figure whose music is heard at every national occasion in Croatia.

Runjanin was born in Vinkovci in 1821 and followed a career as an officer in the Austrian army. In the nineteenth century a large part of Croatia, including the region around Glina, belonged to the Military Frontier, the defensive zone that the Habsburg monarchy had organised along its border with the Ottoman lands, and young officers were posted to garrison towns there. Glina was one of those towns, a centre of a regiment of the Banal Frontier. It was during this period, in the mid-1840s, that Runjanin set a poem to music, and the resulting melody, later revised and adapted, became associated with the verses written by the poet Antun Mihanović. The song spread through the national movement of the time, and over the following decades it became accepted as the country’s anthem.

Visitors will find that the town’s connection to Runjanin’s story has been celebrated with a bust, which stands among the squares and streets as a point of local pride. A visitor will find that it is not large or elaborate, and the meaning lies in the story behind it, the idea that the tune that unites a nation began in a small garrison town on the edge of the empire. Whether or not you know the song, seen in that light, a few minutes spent by the bust is a good way to reflect on how national symbols arise from everyday places and ordinary lives.

Glina has a layered past, one of Croatia’s more complex stories. It was a Frontier town, then a market town, and it suffered heavily in the conflicts of the twentieth century, including in the 1990s, and many of its monuments remember these events. Close to the bust you can find the Gordan Lederer Memorial, which honours a Croatian soldier, and a statue of Franjo Tuđman, the first president of independent Croatia. The Stari Most, the old bridge over the river Glina, is another point of interest, and a short walk along the river is pleasant.

The monument is free and in the open air, so it can be seen at any time. A visit takes only a few minutes, but it fits well into a walk around the town centre. It suits people who are interested in Croatian music, symbols and history, and those who are exploring the Banovina by car. Combining it with a coffee in the main square makes a pleasant stop.