All the „Godfathers“ of Belgrade | Old Belgrade Stories

It is well-known that Belgrade is one of the oldest settlements in Europe. Moreover, if we consider the ancient Neolithic settlements of the Vinča culture in the Danube coastal area, which existed between the 4th and 5th millennia BCE, our capital city can stand shoulder to shoulder with Athens and Rome themselves.

Countless pages have been written about Belgrade and its history, in almost every language spoken worldwide. From Singiduna (the Celtic name of the city) and Singidunum (the Romanized Celtic name) to the present-day Belgrade, our capital city has undergone numerous transformations in its appearance, physiognomy, population, rulers, and even its name. Throughout the city's history, which spans thousands of years, various records from different epochs mention some quite "exotic" names such as Alba Graeca (the Latin name), Alba Bulgarica (the Latin name from the period of Bulgarian rule), Veligrad (the Byzantine name), as well as Nandoralba and Nandorfehervar (during Hungarian rule), Veissenburg (the Austrian name), and Dar Al Džihad (translated from Ottoman Turkish as "House of War").

The name Belgrade first appeared in the 9th century CE when it came under the rule of the Slavs and has been "reinstated" every time the city returned under Serbian authority. Since 1867, with the symbolic handing over of the city keys by Ali Pasha Rizvanbegović to Prince Mihailo Obrenović, Belgrade became the capital of Serbia and, with few interruptions, has remained in its "permanent possession."

However, it is little known that Belgrade was on the verge of another name change, and that too in more recent history. The latest potential "godfather" to Belgrade could have been Nazi Germany. The Germanic ambition was for Belgrade to become the capital of the so-called Danube Reich after a successful offensive campaign to the east (Drang nach Osten), and to be renamed Princeugenštat (Prinzeugenstadt), after the most renowned German (Austrian) military commander Eugene of Savoy. In 1717, during the largest battle for the city at the time, Eugene of Savoy tactically outmaneuvered the Ottomans and seized Belgrade through superior military force.

In the years following the victorious battle, Austria sought to transform Belgrade from a Turkish kasaba into a Western-style town resembling German, Austrian, and Central European cities. Along the Danube coast, in present-day Dorćol, hundreds of German families from the Rhine Valley settled, thereby planting German interests in Belgrade, which persisted for over two centuries.

If the Nazis had realized their wartime plan, you might possibly be reading this text in fluent German, discussing a city that was once called something other than Belgrade...