“Heritage at Hand at CroAtrium” 2026: International symposium on the Croatian translations of the Bible

On 29 October 2026, the National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) will be hosting an international symposium on the less known Croatian translations of the Bible (Hrvatski biblijski prijevodi na marginama).

Jointly organised by the Library and the Croatian Language and Linguistics Institute for the purpose of  presenting this invaluable part of Croatia’s cultural heritage not only to researchers but to the general public as well, the symposium will be held as part of NSK’s this year’s Heritage at Hand at CroAtrium programme.

Precious heritage – finally coming out of the shadows

The Croatian translations of the Bible are a particularly significant part of Croatia’s cultural heritage which played a vital role in the development of Croatian literacy and written culture. However, this unique treasure trove includes texts which have so far unjustifiably remained in the shadow of notable Croatian translations of the Holy Scriptures. Written throughout centuries, they comprise works of the Croatian Glagolitic tradition, translations into Croatian historical literary languages and modern translations.

NSK and the Institute’s experts, along with those from the University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Political Science and Catholic Faculty of Theology, Old Church Slavonic Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, University of Rijeka’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, The Biblical Institute Zagreb and Catholic Faculty of Theology in Đakovo will introduce these hidden gems of the Croatian tradition of Bible translations to the symposium participants and give them an overview of what has so far been established about them.

Croatian translations of the Bible in Croatia’s national library collection

The symposium’s programme (Croatian version only) will include the exhibition of the Croatian translations of the Bible preserved in the NSK Manuscripts and Rare Books Collection, one of Croatica’s four most valuable sub-collections. Singled out among them in a presentation of the Head of the Collection Dr Irena Galić Bešker will be the translations published in Urach, Germany, which between 1561 and 1564 became the centre of Croatian Glagolitic printing.  

NSK launched Heritage at Hand at CroAtrium in 2025 as a year-round programme focusing on the promotion of the national library collection which the Library curates. After six successful events in the programme’s first year, its this year’s edition has so far presented Croatica’s musical and cartographic heritage, along with prints, a recently acquired valuable personal archive and works of Croatian translational literature preserved as part of NSK’s holdings.