At the very beginning, it should be noted that this text is not about the Croatian lawyer and politician Hinko Hinković (http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinko_Hinkovi%C4%87), but about a railwayman-engineer, station master in Visegrad, and senior controller of the state railways Directorate Sarajevo, Hinko Hinković, born in 1887 under the surname Werbothen. The male name Hinko today is entirely Croatian, and the meaning of the name comes from the German Hinrich, Heinrich, or Henrik.
Srećko, drawing from modest, well-preserved archival documents from the 19th and early 20th centuries, wishes to bring readers closer to the life of Hinko Hinković, formerly Werbothen. Hinko was born on May 22, 1887, to father Jakob Werbothen and mother Josefine, née Spivak. One record states that he was born in Dobrinje near Kakanj, while another indicates Sutjeska as his birthplace. The name Kraljeva Sutjeska was only officially adopted upon the arrival of Austro-Hungarian administration in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under this name refers not only to a small town and a Franciscan monastery but also to a Franciscan parish with the town of Kakanj (which, in 1910, had a population of 546) and the surrounding area, including places like Borovica, Vukanovići, Dobrinje, and others.
Father Jakob served as a railway worker in the Directorate of Imperial and Royal Bosnian Railways (KKBB). It is likely that he settled there by building the narrow-gauge railway from Zenica to Sarajevo (1879–1882) and by the passage of the railway through the town of Dobrinje, working as a railway clerk. Let us recall that by the decision of the Berlin Congress of 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina was assigned to Austria-Hungary for administration (in 1908, Austria-Hungary would annex it), so at that time only foreigners could be officially employed, while local workers generally performed manual labor. It is also known that after Bosnia and Herzegovina was occupied, the Austro-Hungarian authorities hurried to build roads, railway tracks, open mines, and from a socio-economic policy perspective, they aimed to stimulate the inhabitants of the Empire to relocate to Bosnia. The authorities favored immigrants and granted them tax reliefs.
Records indicate that around 4,500 Austrian and 12,000 Hungarian citizens settled in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1880, and by 1910, there were 47,000 Austrians and 61,000 Hungarians. Many of these residents were government officials or businessmen who did not intend to stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina permanently. Among the Hungarian citizens, the majority were Croats, with only a small number of true Hungarians. There were slightly fewer Germans, about 2,000, mostly Slavs (Poles, Czechs, Rusyns), whose descendants merged with the Bosnian and Slavic populations, just as the Werbothen family intended, as we will see in later research.
We can reasonably assume the reason for the Werbothen family’s residence in Dobrinje near Kakanj. Namely, in 1900, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy opened a lignite mine in Kakanj, and within a few years of coal exploitation (in 1901), a narrow-gauge industrial railway was built through the settlement, extending from the railway station across the Bosna River to the mine, approximately 3.5 kilometers in length. The state railways probably also utilized the experience and services of Hinko’s father, Jakob, in the operation of this railway. Additionally, it can be presumed that during his childhood with his parents, he could have received his first education at the local public school in Visoko, which started working in 1881 and was attended by children of all confessions.
The marriage record states that Hinko Werbothen, railway assistant, entered into marriage with Marija Hafner, a “private person,” born in Kutina in 1892, daughter of Luka Hafner, a railway worker by profession, and Matilda née Pinzgar. The wedding was officiated by chaplain Isidor Poljak on July 17, 1910, in the parish of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Sarajevo. Interestingly, three witnesses were present: Karlo Kutschera, a bank clerk; Emil Werbothen, a train driver; and Marijan Alković, a clerk. Hinko and Marija had two children, a son named Hinko and a daughter named Marija.
For now, there is no information about Hinko’s educational background except for the detail in the marriage certificate that he was employed as a railway assistant and resided in Sarajevo. Let us assume that he obtained secondary education at Technical Secondary School (established on October 2, 1889, in Sarajevo), and gained practical experience at the Central Railway Workshop in Sarajevo. After the end of World War I, the Werbothen family experienced tumultuous events living in Sarajevo and facing the crucial task of maintaining their position in the railway company.
During the war, trained railway personnel were either on the front lines or in occupied territories, where they carried out their duties. A portion of the specialized staff was “transferred” to Austria, the newly formed state after the dissolution of the “Austrio-Hungarian Monarchy,” as well as to other countries of the former monarchy from which they had come to Bosnia and Herzegovina. This marked the beginning of a process of partial emigration that would result in the almost complete disappearance of descendants of foreign settlers.
Namely, in 1918/1919, the provisional authorities and part of the local population attempted to eliminate all symbols of the former Austro-Hungarian administration. Inscriptions in German were destroyed, monuments and national symbols were removed, numerous schools teaching in German and Hungarian were closed, and the use of German in public was not recommended. Families who emigrated had their workplaces and apartments taken away, which was most felt during 1919 in the campaign against certain categories of foreign residents, all justified by the reason “due to a lack of housing space.”
Germans, Austrians, and Hungarians, or those coming from “enemy” countries, found themselves in a much worse position than Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, and Ukrainians. Under such conditions, foreign immigrants had to decide whether to leave or stay. The majority of immigrant families remained in Bosnia and Herzegovina despite pressure from parts of the local population and new authorities. Many of them, so to speak, had already “put down roots,” just as was the case with the Werbothen family. Still, the state established certain rules for emigration, aware that foreign officials could not be replaced by qualified local personnel, balancing between the need to retain essential professional staff and the desire to rid themselves of at least some foreigners. Additionally, the new Yugoslav authorities continued to grapple with this issue long after the end of World War I. Interestingly, they attempted to solve it by applying the Austro-Hungarian model—bringing in people from outside Bosnia and Herzegovina—so during the interwar period, numerous officials from Serbia were assigned to serve in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The second moment of intense events occurred directly during and after the end of the general railway workers’ strike in 1920. During the period leading up to the strike, the state railways attempted to bridge the problems caused by a lack of qualified workers. To this end, training courses were organized for prominent workers who, after completing their education, were supposed to replace their former masters. However, during the strike, all railway workers were called up for military drill, and those who did not respond to this call faced persecution and dismissal from their jobs.
From an archival document, we learn that Hinko Werbothen, after six months of apprenticeship, took the professional exam for locomotive management for the state railway directorate in Sarajevo and passed with good results on July 10, 1921. Very soon after, in 1924, another document proves that he performed the duties of station master in Visegrad. Namely, from the reading of this document, which pertains to the issued Decision by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kingdom of SHS, his occupation is listed, so it can be presumed that he assumed this position before 1924. Hinko’s career advancement can be interpreted as a reason for the decision made by the Sarajevo Directorate to establish the Railway Trade School, which began operations in April 1923. Until the school was established, lessons were held in the building of the State Railways Directorate and later at the Technical Secondary School in Sarajevo.
Također, iz sadržaja ovog dokumenta možemo konstatovati da u svom ličnom životu Hinko Werbothen donosi neobičajenu životnu odluku. Kako stoji, da kao podanik Kraljevine SHS-a, sa zavičajnim pravom u Sarajevu, sa ženom Marijom Hofner sa kojom ima bračnu maloljetnu djecu Hinka i Mariju, političkog i moralnog vladanja dobrog, traži promjenu prezimena iz razloga, što je on slaven i da ne želi germansko prezime, te bira prezime Hinković. Molba mu se povoljno rješava i ministarstvo donosi odluku 30. juna 1924. godine. Koliko je ova odluka imala olakšavajuće okolnosti u opstanku sada porodice Hinković i njegovo unaprijeđenje u službi željezničara uvjeriti ćemo se u daljnjem istraživanju. Poznat je uslov namještanja u unutrašnjoj službi još iz vremena Monarhije kojeg su kasnije preuzele novonastale državne željeznice, a to je da poslove vanjske službe (u stanicama, ložionicama, te na pruzi) redovito traju od 10 do 15 godina.
Već 1932./1933. godine Hinko Hinković je uposlenik Direkcije Sarajevo. Naime, dokument „Starešinski izvještaj“ u kojem se ocjenjuje rad i vladanje činovnika i službenika u oblasti Direkcije državnih željeznica u Sarajevu to i dokazuje. Starješina odsjeka prati i ocjenjuje vladanje u službi i izvan nje, marljivost i pouzdanost i to tokom cijele godine tako da se: Referent za izradu reda vožnje Hinko Hinković ocjenjuje se odličnim uspjehom i preporučuje Područnoj komisiji da isti može raditi ma koju grupu u saobraćajnom odsjeku ili šefa odsjeka. Komisija nakon preporuke donosi odluku za radno mjesto višeg kontrolora 10. marta 1933., a Vrhovna komisija iz Beograda to potvrđuje 9. oktobra iste godine.
U knjizi „Godišnjak 1937.“, izdanje Generalne direkcije državnih željeznica ( JDŽ-ЈДЗ ), na strani 283, Saobraćajni odsjek, stoji podatak: Hinković J. Hinko v. (viši) kontrolor VI. grupe – ref. Također, spisak svih uposlenika u knjizi „Godišnjak 1937.“ možete pogledati na istoj web lokaciji linkom https://vremeplov.ba/2025/?p=712
U posljednjem arhivskom dokumentu, koji posjedujemo iz perioda Drugog svjetskog rata, stoji „Naredba“ (Ravnateljstvo hrvatskih državnih željeznica – Nezavisna država Hrvatska), za g. Hinko Hinković, nadsavjetnik – činovnik VI. činovničkog razreda, 2. plaćnog stupnja da ispunjava uvjete da za dobivanje trećeg plaćenog stupnja sa važnošću od 31. Siječnja 1944. godine.
Iz ove biografije se može zaključiti da je Hinko (Werbothen) Hinković bio uposlenik bosanskohercegovačkih zemaljskih državnih željeznica, Državnih željeznica u kraljevini SHS, Jugoslavenskim državnim željeznicama i Državnim željeznicama u NDH. Naime, da se podsjetimo da je nakon pobjedničke proleterske revolucije u Jugoslaviji uništen stari državni aparat te nova vlast ozakonjuje novi radnički državni aparat gdje država nacionalizacijom oduzima velika preduzeća i time ih proglašava društvenom svojinom.
„Kakva je daljnja sudbina Hinke Hinkovića nije nam poznata jer ne posjedujemo arhivsku građu poslije završetka Drugog svjetskog rata. Molimo čitaoce da ukoliko imaju saznanja o porodici Hinković, posjeduju dokaz ili postoji živo sjećanje na njih da nam se obrate i tako dopunimo ovaj članak.„
Vaš Srećko
