28 June 1914: the back story

About 28 June 1914: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Sarajevo Editorial Team

The Latin Bridge is one of the oldest bridges in Sarajevo, but it is famous for one morning: 28 June 1914, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated on the street corner beside it.

The visit

Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Habsburg throne, came to Sarajevo to watch army manoeuvres, and on 28 June 1914 drove with Sophie along the riverside Appel Quay (today’s Obala Kulina bana) towards the City Hall, Vijećnica.

The bomb

On the way, a member of a group of young conspirators threw a bomb at the motorcade. It bounced off the archduke’s car and wounded people in the car behind. The visit to the City Hall went ahead.

A few metres of pavement changed the 20th century.

The wrong turn

On the return journey, the driver turned into a side street by the Latin Bridge by mistake and stopped to reverse. Gavrilo Princip, one of the conspirators, was standing on the corner and fired two shots. Both the archduke and Sophie died. A month later, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and within weeks Europe was at war.

The corner today

The building on the corner now houses the Museum Sarajevo 1878–1918, which tells the story of the Austro-Hungarian years and of that morning, with photographs and replicas of the clothes the couple wore. A plaque marks the spot.

Our advice: visit the small museum first, then stand on the corner and look across the bridge to imagine the scene. Go on to Vijećnica, where the archduke was received that morning; the whole walk takes about an hour.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with 28 June 1914: the back story before you go.