For the first time in Shkodra, old photographs from the period 1916-1917 have been exhibited, showing Shkodra’s centuries-old connection with Austria. The exhibition “Between Shkodra and Austria” comes as part of the Austrian cultural week. For the curator, Pjerin Mirdita, this exhibition is a step back in time that proves the contribution of many figures who, with Austrian support, managed to declare Albania an independent state.
The years when Albania was normally at its peak, were assessed as difficult years because it was almost at the end of the Ottoman Empire, on the threshold of the beginning of the First World War, in the First Balkan War. The entire Balkans was a square or a theater of conflicts and these photographs show exactly the role that Austria-Hungary, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had during those years in the support it offered to the Albanians at that time to be independent, that is, to declare independence from the Ottoman Empire and to create the Albanian state.”

The photos, which are published for the first time, were collected by the Austrian Consulate in Shkodër and show the support of the Austro-Hungarian Empire not only in infrastructure, but also in many other areas of life, after the declaration of Independence.

/Klara Ruci/