The Zemun hospital (1784-2020): A short history of the oldest hospital in Serbia

The Zemun Hospital - "Zemun" Medical Center is the oldest medical institution in Serbia that has been operating without interruption throughout its existence. Different dates have been noted in the literature related to its opening, but the one most often mentioned is February 25, 1784, and this date has been confirmed by a document found in the Zemun Magistracy. The first sanitary institution formed in Zemun was the Kontumac, which opened as early as 1730. Shortly after that, two confessional hospitals were also opened. The Serbian (Orthodox Christian) Hospital, which started working before 1769, and the German (Catholic) Hospital opened in 1758. In order to improve the work of these hospitals, a decision was made to merge them into one - the Town Hospital, when the General Command ordered the Magistracy of the Town of Zemun to pool the funds of the existing hospitals and commence work on building a new hospital building. Although financially united, the hospitals continued, for a time, to work in separate buildings. The physical merging of the hospitals was finalized in 1795. From that time to this day the Zemun Hospital has been working without interruption, even in wartime. It has today grown into a modern clinical and teaching center.