Original Scientific Article
Tourism on the Croatian Adriatic Coast
and World War I
Jasenka Kranjčević
Institute for Tourism, Croatia
jasenka.kranjcevic@iztzg.hr
Research on tourism history has been mainly confined to considering tourism area
life cycles (talc). Although destinations with a tourism tradition spanning over a
century have undergone various life cycles, their tourism history has rarely been con-
sidered in the context of global changes, such as World War I, and how and to what
extent these global changes have affected the development of tourism in the tourist
area and tourism architecture. Since no direct hostilities took place in the area of
present-day Croatia during wwi, the present paper investigates the indirect impact
of thewar as a global event on the rise of tourism at the time through unbuilt tourism
architecture, whichmay be seen as halting investments in tourism.This researchmay
be used to consider the creation of a model for global tourism life cycle by stages,
including also paradigmatic changes in the design of tourism architecture.
Keywords:World War I, global tourism cycle, tourism area life cycle, unbuilt
tourism architecture, Croatia
https://doi.org/10.26493/2335-4194.12.41-53
Introduction
Regardless of the potential possessed by a specific
destination for tourism development (climate, natu-
ral and cultural heritage, human resources, etc.), an
often-neglected fact is that its tourism area life cycle
(talc) depends directly or indirectly on global events,
in particular, world wars. In this respect, there is a lack
of global interdisciplinary research on the impact of
global wars on tourism development, as well as on the
paradigm shift on tourism and tourism architecture.
Only complex interdisciplinary research can yield
an answer to the question of what the Great War
(1914–1918) changed directly and indirectly in tourism.
Given that global (wwi and wwii) and regional wars
(Vietnam, Palestine, Homeland War in Croatia, etc.)
strongly impact all tourism activities (Butler & Sun-
tikul, 2013), there is a lack of research on the impact
of war on tourism development through halting in-
vestments, that is on building tourism architecture,
especially during the war.
Safety is an essential prerequisite for the devel-
opment of tourism and the choice of the destination
while lack of safety damages the image and compet-
itiveness of a destination (Richard, 2003; Frey, 2004;
Mansfeld & Pizam, 2006). War, the proximity of war,
or terrorist events strongly influence tourism, primar-
ily reflected through a sudden decline in tourism fig-
ures (Dragičević, Nikšić Radić, & Grbić, 2018). There
is a lack of research in Croatia on the impact of global
historical events, such as wwi, on the development
of tourism on the Croatian coast at the time through
the stagnation of investments in tourism, i.e., through
unbuilt tourism architecture.
The subject of this research is, therefore, the recog-
nition of increased tourism on the Croatian Adriatic
coast before wwi and a sudden drop in tourism fig-
ures due to the onset of war operations in Europe,
resulting in the stagnation of investments in tourism.
That stagnation can be traced through unbuilt tourism
architecture. The phrase unbuilt tourism architecture,
Academica Turistica, Year 12, No. 1, June 2019 | 41
Jasenka Kranjevi Tourism on the Croatian Adriatic Coast and World War I
due to the outbreak of wwi, indicates architecture
projects in the field of tourism (hotels, nautical cen-
tres, sports centres):1
• that had been designed and/or prepared for con-
struction,
• for which public architecture competitions had
been conducted just before the outbreak of the
war,
• that were prepared by public institutions (e.g.,
Ministry of Public Works),
• that were discussed during the war,
• that were discussed after the war because they
had not been built.
This means that these architecture projects were at
a relatively high level of preparation for construction
and can be characterised as investments in tourism
that had been halted. Investments in tourism require
years of preparation and several years for construction
(market analysis, sorting out property ownership is-
sues, project development, finding the workforce, se-
curing building material, etc.).
The aim of collecting and making an inventory of
unbuilt tourism architecture on the Croatian Adriatic
coast is to link the impact of global events, in this case,
wwi, with the development of tourism and the design
of tourism architecture, and the reflection on a global
understanding of life cycle tourism.
Apart from tourism architecture, wwi halted the
construction of new railway lines from Zagreb to Dal-
matia and a railway line from Slavonia via Bosnia and
Herzegovina to Dalmatia, but they are not the subject
of this paper.
Literature Review
In scientific literature, experts agree that war, ter-
rorism, and different types of crises strongly affect
tourism revenue and thus also investments in tourism
(Čorak, Mikačić, & Ateljević, 2013).
In the recent literature on tourism, war has often
been considered for creating social memory (Lisle,
2000; Winter, 2009), which includes the selection
and articulation of information on the war because
1 A large number of Croatian men took part in wwi.
it establishes a connection between the past and the
present. Regarding wwi, between 2014–2018, many
countries of south-eastern Europe (Bosnia andHerze-
govina, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia etc.) or-
ganised scientific meetings to mark a century since
the beginning or the end of wwi. Presented at these
meetings weremost frequently the political, historical,
military and medical aspects of the war. Studies re-
lated to the linkage between tourism and wwi mainly
concerned the recognition of events from World War
I and their transformation into a tourist attraction
(Kavrečič, 2016) and how to use it for education (Geor-
ge & Das, 2017).
Regarding research on tourism history from the
interdisciplinary aspect, it is somewhat marginalised
in the literature, although this has slowly started to
change (Walton, 2009) given that the historical aspect
is increasingly represented at numerous scientific con-
ferences on tourism (Baranowski & Furlough, 2001;
Berghoff, Korte, Schneider, & Harvie, 2002; Koshar,
2002; Tissot, 2003; Walton, 2005).
In the world literature, very few papers focus on
researching the impact of global political and war
events on global tourism development (Gillena &
Mostafanezhadb, 2019), especially during the very be-
ginnings of the development of modern and global
tourism. In Croatia, too, little attention has been paid
to interdisciplinary research on tourism history, al-
though a significant number of places boast a tourism
tradition more than a century-long (Blažević, 1987;
Vukonić, 2005; Vasko-Juhász, 2006). In the context
of tourism history, research on tourism architecture
is particularly neglected, although it plays a vital role
in the range of tourism services. Interestingly, certain
destinations, as well as corporations, create their iden-
tity with the help of tourism architecture from the be-
ginning of the 20th century (Vasko-Juhász, 2006). The
history of tourism architecture is mainly the subject of
research of art historians or architects (Flückinger-
Seiler, 2003; Keck, 2008) and is rarely associated with
trends in tourism and how tourism architecture de-
pends on global influences (Kranjčević, 2018b).
To link tourism and architecture at the beginning
of the 20th century (i.e., until the outbreak of wwi),
this research mostly used literature (books and maga-
42 | Academica Turistica, Year 12, No. 1, June 2019
Jasenka Kranjevi Tourism on the Croatian Adriatic Coast and World War I
zines) in German and Croatian and available archival
material from archives and museums.
MaximilianKrausswrote on several occasions abo-
ut the negative impact of wwi on tourism in Ger-
many (Krauss, 1915, 1918, 1923) and linked it with inter-
national and domestic tourism figures, as well as with
the negative impact on the economy. For understand-
ing tourism circumstances in the Austro-Hungarian
Empire, as well as on the Croatian Adriatic coast be-
fore wwi, valuable sources include tourism journals
Österreichische Touristen-Zeitung (1881–1938) [Jour-
nal of Austrian Tourism], Fremdenverkehr (1908–1914)
[Tourism] and Moderne Illustrierte Zeitung für Sport
und Reise [Modern Illustrated newspaper for Sports
and Travel], published in Vienna, as well as tourism
journals published in Croatia, specifically in Opatija
(Kur- und Bade-Zeitung der österreichischen Riviera,
1906–1914) and on the Brijuni Islands (Brioni Insel
Zeitung). Tourism planning before wwi was the mat-
ter of advisors the imperial court, but also of their
public actions (Schindler, 1912).
To understand tourism architecture on the Croa-
tian Adriatic at the time, articles from journals such
asDerArchitekt [Architect] andWiener Bau-Industrie-
zeitung [a Viennese construction industry newspaper]
were used while monographs of individual architects
were used to investigate hotel projects unbuilt because
of the outbreak of wwi (Boyd Whyte, 1989; Kranjče-
vić, 2013). During the war, architecture journals at-
tempted to affirm and justify some of the tourism ar-
chitecture projects such as, for example, by architect
Alfred Keller on the Croatian coast (Dalmatia), rec-
ommending that it be finished it as soon as peace is
restored (V. F., 1916, 1918).
Prior to the cancellation of the Fremdenverkehr
[Tourism], Moriz Band (1914), as a significant author-
ity on tourism opportunities on the Croatian Adri-
atic, thought in 1914 that the war would soon end.
A year later, R. E. Petermann (1915) published in the
Österreichische Touristen-Zeitung [Journal of Austrian
Tourism] a detailed article about the negative impact
of war on nature, the landscape, tourism and tourist
arrivals.2
2 R. E. Petermann is the author of the famous and extensive
From the literature on Croatian tourism history
(general overview) in theCroatian language, a book by
Boris Vukonić (2005) was used. Apart from research
at the state level, valuable research on the history of
tourism also exists at the regional level. The works
useful for the understanding of tourism history at the
regional or local level were by Lavoslav Golf (1929)
for Dalmatia and Ivan Blažević (1987) for Istria and
Kvarner. There is also valuable research on tourism
history of local destinations such as Dubrovnik (Perić,
1983), Zadar (Jadrešić & Jurić, 1985), Baška (Šale &
Pavlović, 2004), Opatija (Zakošek, 2005), Makarska
(Urlić, 2008), Hvar (Petrić, 2018) among others. Their
research does not analyse the impact of wwi and
wwii but helps to understand how wars represent a
turning point in tourism. Ivan Pederin (1991) analysed
Austrian and German travelogues and their influence
on the promotion of the Croatian coast.
However, there are no works that link the impact
of global events on tourism architecture and the in-
terruption of investments in it. Therefore, this paper
aims at linking the impact of global wars on trends
in tourism and on tourism architecture. Although re-
search into contemporary tourism seeks to link trends
in tourism with the use of tourism architecture, there
has been no research into the impact of the war on
architecture. Similarly, little research has been done
on tourism promotion that promoted tourism archi-
tecture, in addition to natural and cultural heritage
prior to wwi (Pederin, 1991; Storch, 2013; Kranjčević,
2018a).
Research Design andMethods
To explore the fascinating impact of the global war on
tourism, the present paper relies on the research of un-
built tourism architecture in 13 tourist destinations on
the Croatian Adriatic. Although there were no direct
hostilities on the territory of present-day Croatia, the
war had a strong indirect impact on tourism develop-
ment. For this reason, the analysis of the impact of the
war on tourism development was embedded on the
example of the Croatian Adriatic coast as a theoreti-
guide on Dalmatia Führer durch Dalmatia [Guide through
Dalmatia] (1899).
Academica Turistica, Year 12, No. 1, June 2019 | 43
Jasenka Kranjevi Tourism on the Croatian Adriatic Coast and World War I
cal confirming study case based on the so-called most
likely or typical case.
To investigate the impact of wwi as a global event
on the talc of the Croatian Adriatic, the paper relies
on the creation of an inventory of planned architecture
projects for tourism purposes that had not been built
because of the outbreak of the war.
The paper first briefly describes the conditions for
tourism and the rapid growth of tourism figures from
the end of the 19th century until the beginning of the
war, that is until the beginning of a sudden decline in
tourism figures, in order to point out the negative im-
pact of wwi on tourism development. Numerous in-
vestment projects were halted due to the decline in the
number of tourists, the insecurity of investment, and
the insecurity of passenger traffic on the Adriatic.
Notwithstanding the fact that the paper focuses on
unbuilt tourism architecture, it should be noted in the
introductory part that the inventory of tourism figures
relies on available statistical data on settlements on the
Croatian Adriatic coast, especially those after wwi.
This research on the impact of wwi on the de-
velopment of tourism on the Croatian Adriatic coast
faced certain limitations because that planned invest-
ments in tourism had not been listed in a table or
itemised in any other way; therefore, the research
relied on collecting information from journals (of
tourism and architecture), biographies of architects,
and materials preserved in archives and museums
(Croatia, Czech Republic).
Prior to wwi, the Croatian coast had been gov-
erned from Vienna, the capital of the Austro-Hunga-
rian Empire, whereas after wwi its territory was di-
vided between the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom
of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
Based on investments halted in different destina-
tions on the Croatian Adriatic, the paper attempts to
link talc with global events. By observing the con-
sequences of global events on investments in tourism
on the Croatian Adriatic and on architectural design,
the paper attempts to test one of the most commonly
used models for the analysis of talc (Butler, 1980).
Since no quantitative data exist, the research is based
on the conclusion drawn from quantitative research.
The Croatian Adriatic coast, attractive and rich in
natural and cultural heritage, recorded soaring fig-
ures in tourist arrivals up to wwi. The area under-
went significant transformations, with types of build-
ings unknown before that time (hotels, guesthouses,
villas, etc.) being built, opening themselves towards
the sun (terraces, balconies), while traditional build-
ings preferred shade and compactness. Although it
was the time of intensive building of private villas
(Lovran, Ika, Opatija), it was also the time of the emer-
gence of large corporations that, in addition to build-
ing colonies of villas, also invested in the construc-
tion of hotels (e.g., South Railways Company, Lloyd
Steamship Company). Large corporations were ready
to speculate on land and investment. Another prob-
lem was that local governments was not prepared for
tourism development and did not develop land (water
supply and sewage infrastructure) as an essential pre-
condition for construction. Although war is known
to have a substantial impact on tourism, there is al-
most no research into how wwi influenced tourism
development and investments in tourism at that time.
Therefore, the main aim is to show that the Great
War had a negative impact on the rapid development
of tourism on the Croatian Adriatic coast at the time.
The main part of the research relates to finding data
about hotels not built due to the outbreak of wwi.
Statistical data and architecture and tourism journals
emerging during the Austro-Hungarian Empire were
used for the research, as well as monographs of indi-
vidual architects and tourism travel books. To under-
stand the context of the time, the research used statis-
tical data on tourism figures at the level of the Austro-
Hungarian Empire and the level of individual tourist
destinations on the Croatian Adriatic and briefly de-
scribed the most critical tourism-related events.
To ensure an as objective as possible presentation
of unbuilt tourism architecture due to the outbreak of
wwi, the paper relies on a series of primary and sec-
ondary sources, including tourism statistics, museum
and archivalmaterial, tourism literature, and literature
on architecture and construction.
The research on the impact of the global war be-
comes more complex if we take into account that
the end of the war brought about significant socio-
political, economic (changes in power centres, new
44 | Academica Turistica, Year 12, No. 1, June 2019
Jasenka Kranjevi Tourism on the Croatian Adriatic Coast and World War I
territorial divisions, etc.) and cultural changes, sowith-
drawals from investment projects in tourism were not
officially recorded.
Several years after the end of the war, the new states
were busy with organising themselves, taking care of
the wounded, and tourism was only secondary in im-
portance.
Tourism Opportunities from the End of the 19th
Century to the Beginning ofWWI
By bringing the military, security and socio-political
situation in south-easternEurope in order, theAustro-
Hungarian Empire wanted to capitalise on its Riviera
in the same way France and Italy had with theirs,
although spa tourism was already well-developed in
Czech spa towns.3
Because the French and ItalianRivieraswere record-
ing increasing tourism revenues year after year in
the second half of the 19th century, it is not unusual
that different investors, as well as the government of
the Austro-Hungarian Empire, saw possibilities for
tourismdevelopment on the east coast theAdriatic Sea
(today part of Italian, Slovenian, Croatian, Bosnian-
Herzegovinian and Montenegrin coast).
According to statistics, tourism turnover, as well
as the number of designated spa towns (German:
Kurorte) in the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire, was
growing seemingly unstoppably.4 Spa tows were des-
ignated according to specific climatic characteristics
and strict and specific requirements for a spa.
The growing number of spa towns, not only in the
Empire but throughout Europe, required an inventory
(Reimer, 1889). Apart from showing basic data about
the spa town (short description of the location, num-
ber of inhabitants, how to travel there, etc.) and med-
ical characteristics, the inventory helped doctors and
patients choose a spa. The inventory of spa towns was
3 In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, area of the present-day
Czech Republic recorded highest tourism figures.
4 The operation of spa towns (German: Kurorte) was under
the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior, and some of
them lost that status. Therefore, the number of spas in the
Empire did not always increase but fluctuated because of the
need to meet strict requirements of the Ministry of the Inte-
rior.
 
 
 
 
Figure 1 The Number of Spa Towns in the Austro-
Hungarian Empire (adapted from from
Statistisches Jahrbuch der Österreichischen
Monarchie, 1905, p. xvi)
 
 
 
 
Figure 2 The Number of Spa Guests in the Austro-
Hungarian Empire (adapted from from
Statistisches Jahrbuch der Österreichischen
Monarchie, 1905, p. xvi)
interesting to (large and small) investors as well when
choosing the location for their investment.
In order to attract investors and as many guests
as possible, great efforts had been put into promo-
tion. One could read, for example, in travel books and
tourist guides that Dalmatia was called ‘the land of
history and the land of future travels’ (Holbach, 1908)
or ‘a tourism country of par excellence in Austria’ (Il-
lustrierted Führer durch Dalmatien, 1912). Small and
relatively unknown tourist destinations added a com-
parison with the world-famous destinations. Thus,
Hvar was called the ‘Austrian Madeira’ and Rab the
‘Austrian Venice,’ among other examples. The pre-war
press in Croatia, such as Sloboda from Split, published
articles on tourism development. Thus, Marjanović
(1909) discusses tourist arrivals in Dalmatia, the or-
ganisation of foreigners’ traffic, the organisation for
the promotion, public education, rational financing,
hotel society, and so on. Marjanović also proposed the
establishment of a domestic hotel society – the Croa-
tian hotel society. As the number of spa towns was
growing, so did the number of guests in the Austro-
Hungarian Empire.
The east coast of the Adriatic Sea, regardless of
its tourism potentials (climate, sea, sun, culture and
natural heritage), was the economically undeveloped
part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The economy
Academica Turistica, Year 12, No. 1, June 2019 | 45
Jasenka Kranjevi Tourism on the Croatian Adriatic Coast and World War I
of Adriatic coast was based on outdated forms of agri-
cultural production, sale of rawmaterials, and a poorly
developedmanufacturing industry. The economic cri-
sis (brought on by the collapse of sailing ship con-
struction, the Wine Clause of 1891 and the Phylloxera
outbreak, which devastated vineyards in 1894), caused
the emigration of the population to overseas coun-
tries, primarily of young people from the coastal re-
gion and islands. Not to be neglected is the fact that
about 90 of the population was illiterate. With the
emigration of the working population, the price of
land dropped, which played particularly well into the
hands of speculation with land for the construction
of buildings for various purposes. Austrian, German,
English, and even Czech investors were on the lookout
for investment opportunities, inter alia, in tourism.
The development of tourism, and thus the reflec-
tion on tourism architecture, was also attributed to
the Technische Hoch Schule [Technical High School]
in Vienna. Numerous students chose tourism archi-
tecture projects on the Croatian Adriatic for their
diploma theses (Kranjčević, 2017).
Investments, education, promotion, and techni-
cal infrastructure were the topics (among others) dis-
cussed at the beginning of the 20th century. Architects
were designing larger and more complex buildings
(hotels as well) because guests should be, inter alia, at-
tracted by innovative architecture. All these new types
of buildings (hotels, boarding houses, casinos, etc.)
were to be built at the local level. Investors often en-
countered resistance from local municipalities.
Adriatic Exhibition
To make the Austrian Riviera recognisable as suitable
for investments in tourism and to attract as many
tourists as possible, the first sizeable thematic ex-
hibition was organised in 1913 in Prater in Vienna
on tourism on the east coast of the Adriatic called
Adria Ausstellung [Adriatic Exhibition] (Storch, 2013;
Kranjčević, 2018a). The exhibition was organised on
the model of Internationale Ausstellung für Reise und
Fremdenverehr [Travel and Tourism Exhibition] in
Berlin in 1911.
The exhibition in Vienna was of international sig-
nificance. Apart from the presentation of the south-
ern Austro-Hungarian Empire, the exhibition was at-
tended by Canada, Italy, Turkey and other countries.5
Although themain objectives of the exhibition were to
represent the potentials in culture and economy, and
thus tourism of the Adriatic region, the educational
function of the exhibition should not be neglected.
During the exhibition, there were numerous lectures
(Adria Ausstellung, 1913) and a conference on tourism
Adria Fremdenverkehrkonferenz [Adriatic Conference
on Tourism]which discussed, among other things, the
problems of building hotels in Dalmatia (i.e., invest-
ments in tourism on the east coast of the Adriatic).
Two large companies that invested in tourism – Süd-
bahngesellschaft [Austrian Southern Railway] and the
Austrian Lloyd, a steamship company – clashed at the
conference.
The construction of new hotels often faced numer-
ous problems, primarily of an administrative nature,
and investors often found it challenging to obtain con-
struction permits.
Given that investors encountered numerous prob-
lems on the Croatian coast of the Adriatic when ob-
taining construction permits, the Ministry of Public
Works presented, at the exhibition, a prototype of the
prefabricated hotel Dalmatia which was also used as a
catering facility at the exhibition space. The prototype
was built with the aim of speeding up the construction
of hotels, which often faced problems of administra-
tive nature at the local level. Hotel design included re-
gional design characteristics (Adria Ausstellung, 1913;
‘Das Musterhotel in der Adria,’ 1913).
Positive reactions to the exhibition are also evi-
dent from the fact that it was visited by 2,080,000 vis-
itors over 155 business days (Storch, 2013; Kranjčević,
2018a).
The exhibition generated strong interest for the
eastern Adriatic coast by the general public and in-
vestors alike, and thus also the Croatian coast, and
should have created preconditions for further tourism
development on the easternAdriatic coast.What tour-
ism on the eastern Adriatic coast would have looked
5 Since the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th cen-
tury was an era of great technological progress, it was also a
time of organising major economic and world exhibitions.
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Jasenka Kranjevi Tourism on the Croatian Adriatic Coast and World War I
like had wwi not broken out a year after the exhibi-
tion can only be assumed.
Ministry of Public Works
The entire east coast of the Adriatic, owing to its
favourable climate, rich cultural, and natural heritage,
cheap land for construction and poor economic de-
velopment, possessed all the prerequisites for tourism
development. All statistical data (tourism figures) lead
to the conclusion that the end of the 19th and the be-
ginning of the 20th century was the time of dazzling
tourism development.
The Ministry of Public Works also became in-
volved in tourismdevelopment as well as in improving
economic conditions inDalmatia. It commissioned ar-
chitect Alfred Keller (1911 to 1913) to make projects for
hotels in Susak, Trogir, Split, Dubrovnik, and Trsteno,
and architect Wilhelm Jelinek to make a project for
Makarska (Kranjčević, 2013; Kranjčević, 2016a). Hotel
projects by Alfred Keller were again discussed dur-
ing wwi, in 1916 in journalsDer Architekt andWiener
Bauindustrie Zeitung (V. F., 1916, 1918), given that these
cases did not concern exclusive hotels but rather the
category of hotels for the wider public.
His projects were discussed even a decade after the
end of the war in the journal Jugoslovenski turizam
[Yugoslav tourism] (Ćulić, 1928).
The First Impact of War on Tourism Turnover
on the Eastern Adriatic Coast
Only two and a half weeks after the Austro-Hungarian
Empire had officially declaredwar on Serbia on 28 July
1914, passenger ship traffic on the Adriatic Sea suffered
a harsh blow. Baron Gauctsch, a passenger ship sail-
ing on the Trieste–Kotor–Trieste express route, ran
into a minefield near the Brijuni Islands on 13 Au-
gust 1914. Due to the high number of victims, cer-
tain shipping lines were suspended (Tudor, 2007, pp.
33–34). Navigation on the Adriatic Sea became even
more unsafe in 1915 when Italy entered the war be-
cause Italian submarines and torpedo boats started
to attack Austrian-Hungarian ships. Voyage by ship
on the Adriatic Sea suffered a significant setback, and
tourism-related voyages sharply declined.
Table 1 Number of Registered Tourists in Opatija, Lovran,
Mali Lošinj, and Veli Lošinj in 1913, 1914 and 1915
Town   
Opatija , , ,
Lovran , , –
Mali and Veli Lošinj , , –
Notes Adapted from Blažević (1987).
Table 2 Number of Registered Arrivals of Guests
in Dubrovnik, Split, Šibenik, Korčula, Rab, Hvar,
and Kotor in 1913 and 1923
Town  
Dubrovnik with Kupari , ,
Split , ,
Šibenik , ,
Korčula , ,
Rab , ,
Hvar  ,
Kotor , 
Total , ,
Notes Adapted from Golf (1929). Kotor was part of the
Austro-HungarianMonarchy until 1918, more specifically of
the Kingdom of Dalmatia. It is now part of Montenegro.
During the four-yearwar, about forty vessels owned
by Lloyd and other steamship companies were de-
stroyed or damaged on the east Adriatic coast (Tu-
dor, 2007, pp. 33–34). In short, due to unsafe naviga-
tion on the Adriatic Sea, the number of passengers on
steamers plummeted, resulting in decreased numbers
of tourists and overnight stays in tourist destinations.
The decline in tourism turnover could not have re-
covered for many years after the war (Table 2).
Unbuilt Hotel Projects
A prerequisite for the construction of hotels and other
types of buildings for entertainment and leisure is the
construction of transport and technical infrastructure
(railways, roads, ports, water supply, sewage, electric-
ity, telephone, etc.). The construction of a hotel is
known to be a complex and long-term job because
it is necessary to design the project, secure land, build
traffic and technical infrastructure, among other en-
Academica Turistica, Year 12, No. 1, June 2019 | 47
Jasenka Kranjevi Tourism on the Croatian Adriatic Coast and World War I
Figure 3 Project for Hotel in Crikvenica (Prokop, 1897, p.
6)
Figure 4 Project for Hotel in Dalmatia, Unknown
Location (Band, 1910)
deavours. The Society for Economic Development of
Dalmatia, founded in Vienna in 1894 (Piplović, 2011),
commissioned architects to prepare hotel projects to
attract investors and reduce resistance by municipali-
ties. Numerous reasons exist why some hotel projects
remain unbuilt. Some projects were not realised be-
cause there were no more interested investors or the
investors gave up because the infrastructure was not
developed at certain locations. Then, there is also a ho-
tel project by an unknown architect for an unknown
location in Dalmatia whose drafting was inspired by
the Society for Economic Development of Dalmatia
(Band, 1910).
Problems about making a project for hotels often
lead to debates in architectural journals (Lux, 1909).
Therefore, just before the GreatWar, several urban
and architectural competitions were held and master
plans and architectural projects elaborated, aiming to
reconcile thewishes of investors and the possibilities of
the local community (Opatija, Rab, Korčula, Lošinj).
Constant increases in the number of tourists called
for a corresponding increase in hotel room capacity.
In Opatija, the famous Austro-Hungarian health
resort, by the sea, Österreichische Riviera Gesellschaft
[Austrian Riviera Society] planned to build a spa ho-
tel palace and announced an architectural competi-
tion in 1911/1912. The first prize was awarded to archi-
tects Hoppe, Schönthal, and Kammerer in collabora-
tion with Professor Otto Prutscher. The layout area of
the spa palace was to be 11,500 m2. As it was a huge in-
vestment, only earthworks were carried out while the
spa palace-hotel was never built. The size of the invest-
ment is evident from the fact that the sea was filled
with 79,500 m2 of material to obtain a surface area of
26,000 m2 (Kranjčević, 2016a).
The second unbuilt hotel project in Opatija is a ho-
tel on six floors from 1914 by the already mentioned
Viennese architectural trio of Hoppe, Schönthal, and
Kammerer. Unlike the previous project, the facade of
this hotel was to be simpler, that is, designed more ra-
tionally (Boyd Whyte, 1989).
Because of the increase in nautical tourism inOpa-
tija (before wwi), a nautical centre was planned for
building by August Belohlavek in 1916 (Belohlavek,
1919). This building was never built.
Likewise, in Dobrika Bay on the island of Veliki
Brijun, a hotel project from 1915 by architect Eduard
Kramer and investor Paul Kupelwieser also remained
unbuilt (Kranjčević, 2016b). This hotel on five floors
was designed to havemore than 100 rooms, which was
a huge investment for Croatia at the time (np Brijuni).
After an architectural competition was held for the
building of a large hotel complex on the island of Rab
in 1914, the project by architect Karl Lehrmann went
on to be unrealised. Unfortunately, although the first
prize was awarded, the project was not realised pri-
marily due to the outbreak of the war (Kranjčević,
2016a).
One particularly interesting unbuilt project on the
east coast of the Adriatic Sea is the project by a Berlin
48 | Academica Turistica, Year 12, No. 1, June 2019
Jasenka Kranjevi Tourism on the Croatian Adriatic Coast and World War I
Figure 5 Project for Riviera Zaratina, 1910
consortium for Borik (Puntamika) in Zadar from the
first decade of the 20th century. This project, called
‘Riviera Zaratina,’ proposed three luxury hotels, a well-
equipped sand and bathing space, hotel space specially
equipped for guests in winter, maintenance and ex-
pansion of green areas with the emphasis on the culti-
vation of Mediterranean plants.
Sadly, for Lovran (near Opatija), the 1908 project
for a multi-purpose stadium (sports competitions,
tombola, etc.) remained unbuilt (Fassbender, 1908).
This is an indicator that sports facilities were planned
for expanding the tourist services offered.
In the continental part of the Empire, discussions
were also held on the construction of new hotels in
health resorts. For Topusko (continental part of Croa-
tia), an architectural contest was announced in 1910.
Since the construction of a hotel requires many years
of preparation, the project was not realised.
Research on unbuilt hotels is certainly just one of
the segments that can be used to track the impact of
wwi at the then turbulent development of tourism.
Military Spa Resorts and Hotels as Hospitals
for Wounded Soldiers in World War I
Along with ‘civil’ spa houses (Kurhaus) on the east
coast of the Adriatic Sea, military spa resorts were also
built under the auspices of the White Cross Associa-
tion. This association built and/or renovated and re-
furbished military spa resorts in Opatija in 1888 and
Čikat on the island of Lošinj in 1907. During the war,
in 1916, a new military spa resort Kaiserin Zita Of-
fizierkurhaus [Empress Zita Spa Resort for Officers]
was planned for building, with a larger capacity (60
beds) than the current one (16 beds), after a design by
architect Alois Wurm Arnkkreuz (Jahrbuch der K. K.
Gesellschaft vomWeissen Kreuze, 1917, p. 51).
The recovery of a large number of wounded sol-
diers and disabled workers required large accommo-
dation facilities, leading to many hotels being con-
verted into military spa resorts. For example, Hotel
Liburnia in Kraljevica (built in 1904) and Hotel Emi-
granti in Rijeka (built in 1908) were converted into a
military spa resort/military hospital during the war, as
well as some other hotels on the Adriatic Sea.
Discussion and Conclusions
Had the end of the 19th and the beginning of the
20th century not been marked by global development
of technology, communication, medicine and trans-
portation as well as the surplus of free time, tourism as
a new social phenomenon could certainly not have de-
veloped. Without a doubt, a great impetus to tourism
development at the beginning of the 20th century
came from organised tourism propaganda and the-
matic tourism or economic exhibitions.
The rise of tourism in the Austro-Hungarian Em-
pire, and thus also on the Croatian Adriatic coast,
should be considered in the context of global tourism
development, not just through talc.
There is no doubt that the staggering tourism de-
velopment before wwi, manifested through a sud-
den growth in tourism figures, the construction of
tourism architecture and traffic, had the features of
mass tourism from the very beginnings.
Likewise, there is no doubt that the staggering
tourism development before wwi in the world, as
well as on the Croatian Adriatic coast, caused the be-
ginning of the spatial transformation of the Croat-
ian Adriatic coast. A constantly increasing number of
tourist arrivals called for (demanded) the construction
of previously unknown types of buildings, such as ho-
tels, villas, guesthouses, restaurants, and other build-
ings of tourism architecture that, in turn, required spe-
cific infrastructure (electric power stations, a water
Academica Turistica, Year 12, No. 1, June 2019 | 49
Jasenka Kranjevi Tourism on the Croatian Adriatic Coast and World War I
Table 3 List of Some of the Unbuilt Hotel Projects on the Croatian Adriatic Coast
Towns Type of hotels Architect Investor
Crikvenica Hotel Palace, 1896 Arnold Lotz (Prokop, 1897) –
Brijuni Hotel, 1914 Eduard Kramer Paul Kupelwieser
Dubrovnik 1911–1913 Alfred Keller Society for Economic
Development of Dalmatia
Kupari, Dubrovnik Hotel Resort Jiři Stibral and Alois Zima Czech consortium
Lošinj Spa resort for royal and state
officials, 1909
Alexander Krasza 1909.
Opatija Hotel Palace 1911/1912. Hoppe, Schönthal, and
Kammerer
Österreichische Riviera
Geselschaft
Hotel 1914 Hoppe, Schönthal, and
Kammerer
–
Nautical Centre, 1916 Johan August Belohlavaek –
Rab Hotel Resort Karl Lehrmann –
Makarska Hotel, 1911–1913 Wilhelm Jelinek Society for Economic
Development of Dalmatia
Split Hotel Palast, 1911–1913 Alfred Keller Ministry of Public Works
Susak Spa hotel (kurhaus) Alfred Keller Ministry of Public Works
Trogir Hotel, 1911–1913 Alfred Keller Ministry of Public Works
Trsteno Tourist Resort (hotel and villas)
1911–1913
Alfred Keller Society for Economic
Development of Dalmatia
Unknown location Hotel for Dalmatia From book (Band, 1910) –
Unknown location Prototype of the hotel Dalmatia Adriatic exh. in Vienna 1913 Ministry of Public Works
Zadar Riviera Zaratina 1904 T. Jaffé German consortium
supply network, roads, a railway network, parks, etc.).
Numerous destinations put significant effort into be-
ing known on the tourism market.
The issue of new trends in shaping tourism ar-
chitecture on a global scale before wwi became in-
creasingly pronounced. The inflow of capital into the
tourism sector required ever faster and simpler con-
struction,6 as tourism encompassed increasingly wi-
der layers of society.
Although the Croatian coastal area was econom-
ically underdeveloped, from the end of the 19th and
6As new time demanded a new approach to architecture, it is
not unusual for Adolf Loos to publish essays ‘Ornament and
Crime’ 1906–1909 in which he advocated building buildings
without ornamentation.
at the beginning of the 20th century, tourism together
with planned industry and agriculture development
was supposed to facilitate its modernisation, and the
coast was to become a serious competitor to Italian
and French tourism (Piplović, 2011).
The suspension of investment at the beginning of
World War I referred not only to the construction of
hotels but also to the construction of the railway net-
work, ports, and other facilities used in tourism.
Investments in tourism required attractive loca-
tions for which adequate land and labour force had
to be secured, and therefore their realisation certainly
required time. Quite quickly, the narrow coastal strip
become a large construction site. wwi did not put a
stop to tourism development only on the coast, but
also in the continental part of Croatia.
50 | Academica Turistica, Year 12, No. 1, June 2019
Jasenka Kranjevi Tourism on the Croatian Adriatic Coast and World War I
Given the boom in tourism on the Croatian coast
in the early 20th century,WorldWar I as a global event
heavily impacted investments in tourism and, in turn,
in the economy. This interruption in the development
of tourism undoubtedly influenced the change in the
relationship between tourism and space.
We can only hypothesise as to what the Croatian
coast would have looked like had at least the major-
ity of the presented hotels been built. The Croatian
Riviera would have certainly appeared different than
it does now, and the attitude towards tourism would
have undoubtedly been different as well.
This means that talc cannot be observed only
through the prism of the destination, but should be
viewed through the prism of the impact of global
changes that have had a substantial impact on the his-
tory of tourism, changes in trends in tourism (supply
and demand), the development of destination tourism
and thus also on tourism architecture.
Although at the beginning of the 20th century,
there were indications of changes in architectural de-
sign and thus the design of tourism architecture, the
approach to tourism architecture design undoubtedly
changed after wwi.
While archival material about unbuilt tourism ar-
chitecture was viewed here as material for consider-
ing the impact of global changes on tourism, undoubt-
edly this archivalmaterialmay be used to contribute to
the rethinking of thismaterial as architectural tourism
heritage and presentation of this type of heritage.
Tourism recovery on the Croatian coast after wwi
was relatively slow. While there is archival material
about unbuilt tourism architecture as a resource for
reflecting on the impact of global changes on tourism,
thismaterial can serve as a contribution to the rethink-
ing of this material such as architectural tourism her-
itage and presentation of this type of heritage.
Acknowledgments
This work has been supported in part by the Croatian
Science Foundation under the project heru-2032.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommen-
dations expressed in this material are those of the author
and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Croatian
Science Foundation.
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