History
The building at Knez Mihailova 12 was erected in 1928 to a design by architect Radoslav Todorović, for the brothers Petar and Milovan Matić, who ran a trading and publishing house on the ground floor. It originally had three storeys, with a fourth added during the 1930s.
In 1932 the house was bought by Geca Kon, who opened his bookshop here; over time it became one of the best-stocked in the Balkans. Kon was one of Belgrade's most important publishers of his day, and his shop drew readers from across the capital.
During the Second World War, Geca Kon perished in the Holocaust along with his entire family, and the place and date of his death were never established. The occupying authorities seized his property and carried off more than 7,500 books to German libraries, while the bookshop and the family home on Dobračina Street were nationalised in 1944, after the war ended.
Architecture and significance
The building's façade was executed in the academic style, with Romantic elements visible on the balconies, typical of the prestigious commercial buildings raised in central Belgrade in the late 1920s. On account of its cultural and historical importance, the building was declared a cultural monument in 1979, a status reaffirmed in 2009.
Today the ground floor once again houses a bookshop bearing Geca Kon's name, owned by the publishing house "Prosveta", restored and reopened in February 2021. After decades, the tradition of the bookshop once founded by Kon himself thus continues on the very same spot.
Good to know
The building stands right on Knez Mihailova Street, Belgrade's main pedestrian zone, so it is easy to spot while strolling from Kalemegdan towards Republic Square.
The name of Geca Kon is still associated with publishing in Serbia today, and the bookshop in this building is a symbolic continuation of his work, despite the tragic fate he suffered during the war.