Shot that Changed the World Tour | Gavrilo Princip

City Hall

Shot that Changed the World Tour in Sarajevo starts with a visit to Sarajevo City Hall – a beautiful Austro-Hungarian-era building still representing one of the most iconic symbols of our city.

This is the place where Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie should have been hosted by Sarajevo’s major. Franz Ferdinand decided to visit Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. to inspect the imperial armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, former Ottoman territories in the turbulent Balkan region that were annexed by Austria-Hungary.

The date scheduled for his visit, June 28, coincided with the anniversary of the First Battle of Kosovo in 1389 in which medieval Serbia was defeated by the Turks.  On the same date was  Franz Ferdinand’s wedding anniversary. For the first time in her married life, Sophie (also known as the Duchess of Hohenberg) is accompanying her husband on a state visit. 

Latin Bridge -Site of Assassination and Sarajevo Museum

Before getting to the topic of the assassination itself, we will explain the political and social situation in Bosnia and other Southern Slavic countries during the period of Austro-Hungarian rule.

We will talk about “Black Hand”, a secret Serbian society of the early 20th century that used terrorist methods to promote the liberation of Serbs outside Serbia from Habsburg or Ottoman rule and was instrumental in planning the assassination.

Another secret movement founded in Bosnia and related to Black Hand  – “Young Bosnia” will be the topic of discussion. When it was announced that Franz Ferdinand will be visiting Sarajevo the two organisations decided to assassinate him.

You will hear the complete story about the first, failed attempt of the assassination. Then we will talk about the event when 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip seized his opportunity after a wrong turn Ferdinand’s driver took.

He stepped forward and fired two shots. The first shot hit pregnant Sophia in the stomach, she died almost instantly. The second shot hit the Archduke in the neck. He died a short while later.

Your guide will explain to you how the assassination of Franz-Ferdinand and Sophie set off a rapid chain of events and how WW1 started.

This part of the tour we will make more complete by visiting Sarajevo Museum where everything you fill finds is dedicated to the life in Bosnia during the Austro-Hungarian rule, the assassination of the archduke Ferdinand and the start of World War 1.

Appel Quay,  Gavrilo Princip’s Chapel and Hotel Austria

After explaining the events that led to the assassination and those that have been the consequences of it, we will be passing by car through the avenue that was Franz Ferdinand’s route on a fatal day.

We will see the Chapel of Gavrilo Princip, the assassin of the archduke and his wife, where he and other members of the secret organisation were buried. 

Later on, we continue to Hotel Austria & Bosna where the archduke stayed with his wife in Sarajevo. From this hotel, he started his journey to death.

Statue of Gavrilo Princip

The next destination will be the Statue of Gavrilo Princip located in East Sarajevo, a municipality that belongs to the Republic of Srpska area. Do not be surprised when you realise how different perceptions of Gavrilo Princip and of what he did exist in Bosnia and the whole region of the Balkans.