school's out - politička škola Tito

The political school of Josip Broz Tito in his birthplace Kumrovec in Croatia is worth an exploration. It's an example of brutalism, a kind of architecture, which is seen ambivalent for sure. The school was built in the 70s, when the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia was on its zenith and opened 1981 with pomp and circumstance. Politicians came from all over the world, the school has a huge library, much about communism and socialism. But after Tito's death it operated only for one decade and closed already 1990. In the 90s it was a refugee hostel during the Balkan war. Obviously nobody wants the huge building, apart of a swiss movie company, which offered 3 Mio. $, to use it for a horror movie. Although the concrete building has a copper roof, there are many foliage plants and high humidity in it, ferns are overgrowing the bar and all smells moist and moldy. The cinema behind the bar is completely abandoned, in the projection room there are still 2 giant projectors and empty film spools are lying around. Everywhere books are scattered, between purple desk chairs, religious little pictures an the walls of the rooms, a lonely prehistoric blood pressure gauge is lost in the doctor's room, where file cards and medical reports do not give a damn about data privacy.

After the last congress of the Communist Liga of Yugoslavia in January 1990 the school went bancrupt and is now owned by the Home Office of Croatia. A military training center was there for the croatian army and for the French Foreign Legion. Now the building is lost and abandoned since a long time. We were happy to find a way in and there was not a soul in sight, even no ghosts.

The floor space is 8500 m², the building has 145 rooms, including a large gym, a restaurant, bar, cinema and a library. Come in and join the exploration......(see an old postcard in the PiP)