Bjelašnica summit is easily recognized from the distance by the structures that have been erected on top of it. After the Austro-Hungarian Empire occupied Bosnia following the Congress of Berlin in 1878 the Austrians installed almost immediately the first meteorological station on the summit in 1878, creating the first meteorological station in the whole area of the Balkans. This structure was replaced in 1894 by a more advanced meteorological observatory with an all-year around manning. The observatory is still there, has been repaired of the damage sustained during the last war, and still functions as an important chain-link in the meteorological survey of the Balkans. The communications centre with its landmark tower that used to stand next to the observatory was destroyed in 1993. The remains of the broken tower were removed in 2006.