Bjelovar


Bjelovar is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 36,316.
It is the administrative centre of Bjelovar-Bilogora County, as well as one of the youngest cities in Croatia, officially founded in 1756.

Name

The origin of the modern name Bjelovar is a topic of debate; however, a prominent theory posits that the name is derived from the concept of "white land", a term historically used to describe land that was challenging to cultivate. Older records of names like Belublathya or Bjeloblaće, indicate this possibility.
The name of the city itself consists of the Croatian adjective ', meaning white, added to the Hungarian word ' or város, which roughly translates to city or fortress.

Name history

The name of a settlement similar to Bjelovar is mentioned several times in various historical records. In a letter dating to 13 April 1465, Belovarc was mentioned by the bans Emeric Zápolya and Nicholas of Ilok, addressed to the archbishop of Zagreb, about the return of said property, and in the archbishops reply to their letter.
In 1473, in a letter, King Matthias Corvinus gifted the properties of so-called "Belublathy" to several nobles.
In other documents from that period, the names Belowarcz, Beloblatje, and Bjeloblaće are mentioned. The same names are also mentioned around the years 1579 to 1611, where a small fortress or schloss was built along the Bjelovacka to defend against oncoming Turkish invasions. This fortress is recorded on various maps as a fortress: Belouac, Belouax, and Wellovar.
In 1756, with the establishment of the modern city and its subsequent promotion to the military center of the Varaždin Generalate, which was commanded by Baron Philipp Lewin von Beck. Bjelovar was founded and named as Novi Varaždin, which the local population did not accept. Beck ordered that those who do not accept the name Novi Varaždin be punished.

Geography

Bjelovar sits on a plateau in the southern part of the Bilogora, a long, low elevation range with an average height of 150–200 m. The geology of the area consists of Pliocene sandy marl and sandstones with lesser layers of lignite. Older rocks do not appear on the surface in this area. Deeper down, crystalline rocks can be found. The city stands 135 metres above sea level. It is the capital of the Bjelovar-Bilogora county, and the natural, cultural, and political centre of the area.
Bjelovar sits at an intersection of roads in this area: the D28 intersects with the D43, and it lies on the road between Zagreb and west Slavonia, Podravina, and Osijek. Bjelovar is currently being connected by dual carriageway with Zagreb.
The city of Bjelovar has an area of and administratively includes 31 other settlements.

History

Neolithic and ancient history

The oldest Neolithic location in this area is in Ždralovi, a suburb of Bjelovar, where, while building a basement for the house of Josip Horvatić, a dugout was found and identified as belonging to the Starčevo culture. Finds from Ždralovi belong to a regional subtype of a late variant of the Neolithic culture. It is designated the Ždralovi facies of the Starčevo culture, or the final-stage Starčevo. There are also relics of the Korenovo culture, Sopot culture, Lasinja culture, and Vučedol culture, as well as the Bronze and Iron Age cultures, which are found in the wider Bjelovar area.

Roman Empire

The more intensive development of the area began with the arrival of the Romans, who first came to the area between the Sava and Drava rivers in 229 BC. The intersection of two Roman roads was located exactly at the place where present-day Bjelovar developed, and in its immediate vicinity was a presumed military camp or station.
With the stabilization of the northern border of the Roman Empire, a collection of settlements probably developed here in the period from the second to fourth centuries, unrecorded on Roman itineraries but attested by archaeological remains in today's Matošev Square, Stjepan Radić Square, and findings in the wider city area, such as a Roman rural settlement in the forest and area of Lug.

Origin of the city

By the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th century, many noble and church estates were located within the circle of modern Bjelovar, examples being the settlement Jakobove Sredice, the fort of Gudovačka Gradina, and church parishes in modern-day Veliko Korenovo, Međurača, and Nova Rača.
With the Turkish invasions in the 16th century, the modern-day Bjelovar region became a border area and a humanly and materially devastated region that constantly changed hands. The population had dispersed and life was largely carried out in small forts along the unstable border with the Ottomans. Only with the establishment of an administrative and military system of defense against the Turks, better known as the Croatian Military Frontier, within which the Bjelovar area was located, did the situation stabilize. In the 17th century, Bjelovar is mentioned as a military guardhouse, which indicates that it was already included in the frontier defense system at that point. Stabilization of the Habsburg-Ottoman border on the Sava river and the new circumstances of the society in the region during the first half of the 18th century conditioned the territorial and administrative reorganization of the Varaždin Generalate.
The Severin Uprising, which took place in 1755 in the immediate vicinity of the future city, pointed to the need for a new command center from which better control of the Krajišan could be projected out. Viennese military strategists decided to establish a new settlement that would take over the function of headquarters of regimental administrations. A location was chosen in the center of the generalate, on the dividing line between the Križevci and Đurđevac regiments.
The foundation of Bjelovar and the beginning of its construction dates back to 1756, when the land was purchased and a permit was issued for the purchase of building materials. The construction was led by Baron Philipp Lewin von Beck. From the very beginning, the city was conceived as the center of the Varaždin Generalate, and in accordance with the military function, the construction of military facilities and the settlement of the military population began, as well as the resettlement of many Czech and Croatian peasants as workforce on the new fort.
The exception is the block on the square where the parish church of St. Teresa of Avila and the Piarist monastery and school sit. Two Piarist monks, brothers Hubert and Ignacije Diviš, came to Bjelovar in 1761 and opened the first public school on the Đurđevac regiment side of town. By the decision of Empress Maria Theresa, construction of a new church started, which was completed in 1772. With this, the parish of Bjelovar was established, and until 1790, it was managed by Piarists. In 1771, Maria Theresa confirmed Bjelovar's status as a privileged "Krajina city", a military community, which resulted in demographic and significant economic growth. This trend continued at the beginning of the 19th century, when the city began to expand beyond its original borders. With time, it became the administrative centre of the Bjelovar-Križevci county.

19th century

The then-town of Bjelovar was pronounced a free royal town by ban Ivan Mažuranić in 1874, after the conclusion of the Ottoman invasion. Peaceful life and economic boom was interrupted by the beginning of the First World War. As an important military town, Bjelovar made its contribution by recruiting the male population, converting many public buildings into hospitals, and using the railway to transport soldiers and the wounded. With the war dragging on, the shortage of manpower and natural resources led to a difficult economic situation and a general shortage of food. At the end of the war, Bjelovar became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, [Croats and Slovenes], and it retained its status as the administrative centre of the Bjelovar-Križevci county. On the basis of The Vidovdan Constitution of 1921 and the Law on Regional and County Self-Government, the Kingdom of SHS was divided into 33 oblasts, and Bjelovar thereby lost the status of county center and became part of the Osijek Oblast, with the status of a district and a city.
Thanks to the economic foundations created in the previous period, based on trade, crafts and industry, the positive economic trend continued until The Great Depression, when the growth of registered merchants, craftsmen, and industrialists was still recorded, but with much lower incomes. In the interwar period, the city received some new facilities. The football field of the Bjelovar Academic Sports Club was arranged in the modern-day city quarter of Logorište. Public city pools were also established.

20th century

The short-lived period of the Independent State of Croatia during the Second World [War at Sea series|Second World War] stopped the development of the city in all areas. Two days before the official proclamation in Zagreb, on 8 April 1941, from the balcony of the then city hall, mayor Julije Makanec proclaimed the Independent State of Croatia during the event known as the Bjelovar uprising. Within two months, a new territorial-administrative division of the state into 22 parishes followed. During the war, unlike the villages in the immediate vicinity of Bjelovar, the town did not experience severe material destruction. On several occasions, the railway, as well as the military bases in the quarter of Vojnović, were bombed by Allied forces.
With the end of the war and the arrival of the new socialist government, tendencies towards the modernization of the state and the restoration of the failing industry and communal infrastructure were evident from the very beginning. Housing construction intensified, mainly in the northern part of the city, as well as to the south. In 1960, a new post office was built on the site of the old post office building. In 1955, the Koestlin plant moved from the city core to the industrial zone south of the railway. In addition to Koestlin and the already existing factories of Tomo Vinković, Česma, Tehnogradnja and Elektrometal, new plants were built in the area from the 1960s, while the United Paromlin, stayed in its historical location by the old mill, where it was reorganized and built upon.
In addition to demographic and economic growth, the aforementioned built infrastructure contributed to the strengthening of all functions, which turned Bjelovar into one of the most important centres of northwestern Croatia. One such industry, Drvna industrija Česma, became the namesake of the volunteer fire department DVD "Česma", founded on 23 April 1960. Another such industry,, became the namesake of the DVD "Sirela", founded on 5 October 1968.

Bjelovar during and after breakup of Yugoslavia

After the first multi-party democratic elections in the SR Croatia, held on 22 and 23 April 1990, the newly founded Croatian Democratic Union won power in Bjelovar. After the referendum and the declaration of independence, the crisis worsened and conflicts began. For this reason, on 12 September, the President of the Republic of Croatia, Dr. Franjo Tuđman, made a decision to block all JNA barracks in Croatia and suspend the supply of electricity, water, and food to these barracks. After a series of unsuccessful attempts to get the JNA army to peacefully leave the barracks located in the city or in its immediate surroundings, namely the barracks or military facilities in the quarters of Logorište, Vojnović, Zvijerci, the forest of Bedenik and the Preradović barracks on the main city square, known as the Božidar Adžija Barracks.
On the morning of 29 September, ZNG and the Croatian police attacked the JNA facilities in Bjelovar. In response, Kovačević contacted the JNA 5th Military District in Zagreb and requested airstrikes against the city and the ZNG. The sources do not indicate if the requested airstrikes were carried out. The 5th Military District instead pressured the central Croatian authorities to order the ZNG in Bjelovar to observe a comprehensive ceasefire, previously agreed between Croatia and the JNA on 22 September. To verify the ceasefire, the European Community Monitor Mission deployed a monitoring team to the city. However, the authorities in Bjelovar ignored the order they received from the General Staff and stopped the ECMM team before it reached the city. According to Šimić, the move was made after Lieutenant General Petar Stipetić telephoned him and urged him to continue the attack. The authenticity of Šimić's account of has been disputed by Admiral Davor Domazet-Lošo, who claims it was an attempt to discredit Croatia before the ECMM. At 19:00, the ZNG captured Božidar Adžija Barracks. By that time, all other JNA facilities in and near Bjelovar had been captured.
Before Barutana Depot was captured by the ZNG, one of the four storage structures, containing 1,700 tonnes of ammunition and explosives, was blown up by JNA Major Milan Tepić. The explosion occurred at 10:43, killing Tepić and eleven ZNG troops who were blockading the depot in Bedenik Forest. The blast knocked down trees in a circle 200 metres wide, caused damage to nearby structures, predominantly in the then suburb of Hrgovljani, and could be heard 20 kilometres away. The JNA lost another soldier, Stojadin Mirković, in the area of the depot, killed by an antitank missile while he was engaging the ZNG using an infantry fighting vehicle gun.
29 September 1991 became one of the most important dates in the modern history of Bjelovar. In 1997, the City Councilor declared that date the Day of the City of Bjelovar. Since 2007, 29 September has been marked as Bjelovar Veterans' Day.
In 2009, the then-Bjelovar parish church was officially pronounced as the Cathedral of Teresa of Ávila by Pope Benedict XVI, making it the youngest cathedral in Croatia. On the same day, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bjelovar-Križevci, of which the Bjelovar Cathedral is the centre, was created.

Demographics

Population by settlement:
yeartotalCroatsSerbsYugoslavsothers
199166,03953,113 5,898 2,631 4,397
198166,55348,819 5,897 9,249 2,588
197165,82452,580 8,689 1,726 2,829

Administrative division

The administrative sections of Bjelovar are the local administrative boards. There is a total of 38 of them, 32 of which correspond to surrounding settlements, while six are included within the city settlement:
  • "Knez Domagoj"
  • "Dr. A. Starčević"
  • "A. G. Matoš"
  • "K. Petar Krešimir"
  • "Ban J. Jelačić"
  • "Stjepan Radić"

    Politics

Minority councils and representatives

Directly elected minority councils and representatives are tasked with consulting tasks for the local or regional authorities in which they are advocating for minority rights and interests, integration into public life, and participation in the management of local affairs. At the 2023 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives elections, Roma and the Serbs of Croatia each fulfilled legal requirements to each elect their own 15 member minority council of the City of Bjelovar, while Albanians and the Czechs of Croatia were electing individual representatives.

Climate

Bjelovar has a temperate continental climate. Winters are moderately cold and summers are warm. Precipitation of about per year is normal. The prevailing wind during winter is northerly, with easterlies becoming stronger in spring, when it may be quite cold, often blowing for several days consecutively. In summer, the wind is southerly; it is warm and more humid. The mean yearly temperature in Bjelovar is about.
Since records began in 1949, the highest temperature recorded at the local weather station at an elevation of was, on both 20 July 2007 and 24 August 2012. The coldest temperature was, on 16 January 1963.

Culture

Bjelovar contains three war memorials. The Barutana memorial area is dedicated to those who died defending the city on 29 September 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence. The Lug memorial area is dedicated to memorial to the Croatian victims of communism after the end of the Second World War in 1945, and the Borik memorial area is dedicated to Partisans and victims killed during the Second World War.
Bjelovar hosts the yearly "BOK" theatre festival. It was founded and is run by Bjelovar actor Goran Navojec, and it hosts a selection of the best plays performed in Croatia during previous year.
The building of a former synagogue is now used as a cultural center, the Bjelovar Synagogue.

Sport

In the 1970s, Bjelovar was known as the handball capital of Europe, when its local squad RK Bjelovar dominated Croatian, Yugoslav, and European handball. The team came solely from Bjelovar and its environs.
The local chapter of the HPS is HPD "Bilogora", which had 98 members in 1936 under the Stanko Antolić presidency. Membership fell to 86 in 1937. Membership rose to 94 in 1938.

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Bjelovar is twinned with:
For a complete list of people from Bjelovar and Bjelovar-Bilogora County see List of people from Bjelovar-Bilogora County.