MUNICIPALITY OF MARIBOR 1922-1924

Mestno občino Mariborsko je od avgusta 1921 vodil prvi občinski svet, ki je zamenjal dotedanji mestni sosvet. Prvi župan Maribora je bil Viktor Grčar, večino v občinskem svetu pa so imeli socialdemokrati. Na drugih občinskih volitvah leta 1924 je zmagal Narodni blok, ki je dobil kar 32 od skupno 42 mandatov v občinskem svetu. Nov župan je postal Josip Leskovar. Aprila 1922 se je jugoslovanski del Slovenije razdelil na mariborsko in ljubljansko oblast, kot je to predvidevala Vidovdanska ustava. S tem je postal Maribor sedež enega izmed dveh enakopravnih predstavništev državne oblasti na slovenskem ozemlju. Maribor se je v letih 1922 - 1924 predvsem prilagajal na nov gospodarski položaj, v katerem se je znašlo mesto v Kraljevini SHS. Pretrgane so bile povezave z nekdanjo državo Avstro-Ogrsko, zato se je gospodarstvo začelo razvijati v nove smeri. Vodilna gospodarska panoga je postala industrija in Maribor je postal mesto tovarn. Kulturno dogajanje v Mariboru v teh letih je bilo v duhu utrjevanja slovenskega značaja mesta. Mesto je dobilo pomembno kulturno institucijo Študijsko knjižnico.In August 1921 the first municipal council took over the governance of the City Municipality of Maribor, replacing the old advisory council. The first mayor of Maribor became Viktor Grčar and the the social democrats held a majority on the city council. The winner of the second municipal elections in 1924 was the left-wing coalition „Narodni blok“, securing 32 of the 42 seats on the municipal council. The new mayor became Josip Leskovar. In April 1922 the Yugoslavian part of Slovenia was split into two administrative units (east and west), as foreseen by the Vidovdan Constitution. Thus Maribor became the seat of one of two equal units of state authority on Slovene territory. Between the years 1922 and 1924 Maribor was mostly trying to adapt to its new economic conditions in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The ties to the former Austro-Hungarian Empire had been broken, so the economy started developing in new directions. Industry became the leading economic sector and Maribor turned into a factory city. The cultural life at that time was marked by a spirit of strengthening the city’s Slovene character. During that time the city acquired an important cultural institution – the study library