
U Bečkom Novom Mjestu: Epilog zrinsko-frankopanskoj tragediji u jednom činu
In Vienna's New Town (1921) is a one-act play – an epilogue to the Zrinski-Frankopan Tragedy. It commemorates the 250th anniversary of the execution of Zrinski and Frankopan in Vienna's New Town in 1671.
Milan Ogrizović (1877–1923), a prolific Croatian playwright, author of Hasanaginica and other successful plays, wrote this short play (a one-act play) for Matica Hrvatska in 1921, precisely on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the execution of Croatian nobles Peter Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankopan in Wiener Neustadt (Vienna's New Town). The work was conceived as a patriotic epilogue to the great national tragedy of 1671 and serves as a commemorative piece.
The action takes place in Vienna's New Town and evokes the last moments and the consequences of the execution, focusing on the dignity of the victims, their loyalty to the Croatian idea, and a critique of Viennese absolutism. Like Ogrizović's other historical plays, this one emphasizes national pride, sacrifice, and the future awakening of the Croatian people, typical of the author's right-wing and national-romantic spirit. It is not a complex multi-act play with deep psychology like Hasanaginica, but a special, emotional and rhetorically powerful one-act play intended for theatrical performance on an anniversary.
The work was published in Zagreb in 1921, and was performed at the Croatian National Theatre (directed by Branko Gavella in 1921). It was later staged in Belgrade. Critics see it in the context of Ogrizović's national-historical dramas (Banović Strahinja, Smrt Smail-aga Čengić), where the author uses historical models to strengthen Croatian identity. Today it is considered a minor, special play in the author's oeuvre, but important for understanding the cult of Zrinski and Frankopan in Croatian literature and theatre of the 20th century.
One copy is available





