Gárdoš

Who we are

The Gárdoš Association is a civil-society organisation based in Zemun, dedicated to researching, preserving and presenting the shared Hungarian–Serbian historical and cultural heritage.

At the heart of the work are the Hungarian heritage of Belgrade and Zemun, and the Serbian heritage of Hungary. Not only the monuments, buildings, documents and events: also the centuries-old cultural, historical and human connections that linked Hungarian and Serbian communities — and that link them still.

Shared heritage is not only a record of the past. It is a value that lives in the present, and one on which future relationships can be built.

The work is research, cultural events, exhibitions, lectures and community projects. We work on our own and with partners from Serbia, Hungary and other European countries. Programmes run in Serbia, in Hungary, and within European projects and partnerships.

Making what we learn public matters to us. The value of the past should not be reachable only by researchers and specialists, but by younger generations and by anyone who takes an interest.

The message of the tower

The society takes its name from the tower on Gardoš in Zemun. It was built in 1896, for the thousandth anniversary of Hungarian settlement in the Pannonian plain, as one of seven millennium monuments raised across Hungary as it then stood — this one on the southern border.

It has been a silent witness ever since. Borders changed. States changed. Historical eras came and went. The tower stayed where it was.

Today it stands in a different country and a different social order, and still keeps the memory of the time that made it. Which is why, for us, it is not only an architectural monument but a mark of historical continuity, and of the connection between cultures that lived alongside one another for centuries.

The tower is a reminder that political borders can move while culture, memory and human ties do not always move with them.

That is the heritage we want to keep and pass on. To uncover what connects us. To preserve what has lasting value. To present what history left us. And to build bridges between the past, the present and the future.

Because shared heritage does not divide. It connects.

Aims

The seven aims set down when the society was founded, in the order they were published.

  1. Research into the legacy of Hungarian culture and tradition in the city of Belgrade

  2. Promotion of Hungarian–Serbian economic and cultural cooperation

  3. Organisation of cultural events

  4. Participation in European projects

  5. Publication of research results from the society’s fields of activity

  6. Organisation of summer education programmes

  7. Cooperation with Serbian cultural institutions in Hungary