Vjekoslav Heinzel (; 21 August 1871 – 1 March 1934) was the Mayor of Zagreb from 1920 to 1928. He is best remembered for great development projects of the 1920s that significantly expanded the city. Heinzel was born as Alois Heinzel into an entrepreneurial family in Zagreb and was sent to

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

and

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

to become an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, graduating in 1893. Licensed for standalone work as an architect in 1896, he designed numerous buildings in Zagreb. In 1906, Alois changed his name to Vjekoslav. In 1910, he became a city councillor and in 1912, he became the head of the local Chamber of Trade and Crafts. The same year he ceased his professional activities and traveled across Europe before he returned and organized the food supply of Zagreb during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Heinzel was also an early automobilist, who along with Ferdinand Budicki drove the first car in Zagreb, and was one of the founders of the Croatian automobile club in 1906. He participated in many early car races, including winning the first race for the championship of the

Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (; or ; ) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was created in 1868 by merging the kingdoms of Kingdom of Croatia (Habs ...

in 1912. During the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

, Heinzel was first elected mayor in 1920 and served until the August 1921, when the city administration was temporarily disbanded. In 1922, he was elected as a member of the Croatian Bloc. In 1926 and 1927 he had a falling out with the

Party of Rights The Party of Rights () was a Croatian nationalism, Croatian nationalist political party in Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and later in Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was founded in 1861 by Ante Starčević and Eugen Kvaternik, two influ ...

and the

Croatian Peasant Party The Croatian Peasant Party (, HSS) is an agrarianism, agrarian List of political parties in Croatia, political party in Croatia founded on 22 December 1904 by Antun Radić, Antun and Stjepan Radić as Croatian Peoples' Peasant Party (HPSS). The ...

, but was re-elected in the subsequent election. His administration organized the construction of large sections of today's Peščenica,

Trnje Trnje () is a district in the City of Zagreb, Croatia. According to the 2011 census, the district had 42,282 residents. It is located in the central part of the city, south of Donji grad across the railway ( Zagreb Main Station), east of Trešn ...

Trešnjevka Trešnjevka is a neighborhood of Zagreb, Croatia. Forming one of the city's inner neighborhoods, it is located in the city's southwestern area. At approximately 15.67 km2 in area and a population of slightly over 121,000, it is one of the most ...

Maksimir Maksimir () is one of the districts of Zagreb, Croatia, population 48,902 (2011 census). Maksimir stadium and Maksimir Park are located in it. It was named for Bishop Maksimilijan Vrhovac. The urban center of the Maksimir district is located a ...

and other city neighborhoods. His contributions included the construction and expansion of numerous hospitals, the beginning of the

Dolac Market Dolac () is a farmers' market located in Gornji Grad - Medveščak city district of Zagreb, Croatia. Dolac is the most visited and the best known farmer's market in Zagreb, well known for its combination of traditional open market with red umbrel ...

, and the reconstruction of the Laščinska road, later Sajmišna, and today the Vjekoslav Heinzel Avenue, a prominent north–south avenue in the eastern part of the city that starts at the Eugen Kvaternik Square and divides

and Peščenica. During Heinzel's term as mayor, Zagreb got its first 0.35 kW radio transmitter on 15 June 1926. On 1 April of the same year, the city installed its first automatic switchboard, with the capacity of 7,000 telephone subscribers. Heinzel's efforts came at a considerable cost, however, as the city had to take out a loan of 250 million

Yugoslav dinar The dinar ( sh-Cyrl, динар) was the currency of Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1920 in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which was replaced by the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Th ...

s, a topic of much criticism at the time.

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Further reading