The Academy of Fine Arts, which was originally built to serve as an Evangelical Church, is considered one of Sarajevo’s loveliest buildings.

Once BiH was occupied by the Austro-Hungarians in 1878, the number of Evangelicals in Sarajevo grew significantly, so there was a greater need for them to build their first church.

The main initiator for the construction was the Austrian, Filip Balif, while one of the most well-known architects from Sarajevo, Karlo Paržik the Czech, was responsible for the design. The church was opened on November 19, 1899.

By the end of the First World War, most Evangelicals had left Sarajevo, along with the Austro-Hungarian Army, so the church began to lose its original function.

At the end of the 1970s, Vlado Nagel, one of Sarajevo’s last Evangelical Christians, signed over the Church property to the city authorities, who later renovated and adapted the building in 1981, making it a home for the Academy of Fine Arts.