Osijek


Osijek is the largest city and the economic and cultural hub of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative seat of Osijek-Baranja County. It is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,313 recorded in the 2021 census. The city is situated on the southern bank of the Drava River, 25 km upstream from its confluence with the Danube, at an elevation of. Osijek is located 16 km west of the Croatia–Serbia border.

Name

Osijek's name originates from its location on elevated ground, which afforded protection from floods in the surrounding swamp areas. It derives from the Croatian word oseka, meaning "ebb tide." Due to its history under the Habsburg monarchy and Ottoman Empire, as well as its diverse ethnic minorities, the city is known by various names in other languages: in Hungarian, Esseg in German, in Turkish, and Mursa in Latin. The English name for the city is Osijek.

History

Origins

Human habitation in the Osijek area dates to the Neolithic period. The first known inhabitants were the Illyrian tribe of the Andizetes. During the second half of the 4th century BC, the settlement was attacked and subsequently captured by the Celtic Scordisci, who established a permanent presence there.
Following the Roman conquest of Pannonia, the settlement—then known as Mursa—was garrisoned by the Roman Seventh Legion. The legion administered the area from a military castrum and built a bridge across the Drava River. Historical evidence suggests that Emperor Hadrian founded this settlement as a new foundation. He later elevated Mursa to a colony with special privileges in 133 AD. The subsequent history of Mursa was marked by turbulence, as several decisive battles were fought in its vicinity. These conflicts had profound consequences for the colony and the wider region, which was already strained due to the westward migration of various tribes—including the Alemanni, Gepids, Goths, Marcomanni, and Vandals—who were displaced by the invading Huns. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the Avar Khaganate's destruction of local tribes in the 6th century, the region was repopulated by Slavic tribes during their mass migrating to Southeastern Europe in the Early Middle Ages, between the 6th and 7th centuries.
The earliest recorded mention of Osijek dates to 1196. From 1353 to 1472, the town was a feudal possession of the Kórógyi family. Following the death of the last Kórógyi, King Matthias Corvinus transferred authority over Osijek to the Rozgonyi family. The city was subsequently sacked and nearly destroyed by an invading Ottoman army on 8 August 1526, just prior to the Battle of Mohács. A permanent Turkish garrison was established in 1529, after which the Ottoman rebuilt the city in an oriental style; it appears in the Ottoman census of 1579. In 1566, Suleiman the Magnificent commissioned an 8-kilometre-long, wooden pontoon bridge at Osijek, a structure renowned in its time as one of the wonders of the world. Under Ottoman administration, Osijek was part of the Sanjak of Pojega within the Budin Eyalet and grew into a significant commercial centre for East-West trade.
Osijek was captured by Habsburg forces on 29 September 1687, following the Second Battle of Mohács; this ended over 150 years of Ottoman rule over the city.File:Battle of Osijek in 1685.png|thumb|left|Battle of Osijek, fought on 11 August 1685 between the Imperial Habsburg army, commanded by James, 2nd Count Leslie, and the Turks, resulting in an Habsburg victory

Habsburg Empire

Following its integration into the Habsburg Empire, Osijek underwent significant reconstruction. Between 1712 and 1715, Austrian authorities built a new fortress, known as Tvrđa, in the town's center. Designed by Austrian architect Maximilian Gosseau de Henef, it was completed with outer walls and all five of its planned bastions. The central Holy Trinity Square is framed by the Military Command building to the north, the Main Guard building to the west, and the Magistrate building to the east. At its center, a monument to the plague was erected in 1729 by the widow of General Maximilian Petras.
The Gornji Grad was established in 1692, followed shortly by the Donji Grad in 1698. These districts were primarily settled by inhabitants from the swampy Baranja region. Tvrđa, Gornji Grad, and Donji Grad operated as separate municipalities until 1786, when they were unified into a single administrative entity. In the late 18th century, Osijek superseded Virovitica as the seat of Virovitica County. During this period, the Habsburg Empire encouraged the migration and settlement of German immigrants into the town and surrounding region, which led to the development of a distinctive local German dialect known as Essekerisch.
In 1809, Osijek was granted the title of a Free Royal City, and during the early 19th century, it was the largest city in Croatia. The city developed along the lines of other central European cities, with cultural, architectural, and socio-economic influences filtering down from Vienna and Buda. At the beginning of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the town was initially held by Hungarian forces but was captured by the Austrians under General Baron Trebersberg on 4 February 1849.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Osijek was the seat of the Virovitica County of the autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia in Austria-Hungary.
During the 19th century, cultural life in Osijek flourished around its theatres, museums, collections, and printing houses, notably those run by the Franciscans. The first museum, the Museum of Slavonia, was founded in 1877 through private donations. A prosperous economy and expanding trade relations fostered a vibrant society, characterized by religious festivals, public fairs, entertainment, and sporting events. This period of growth also saw significant urban expansion with the construction of the Novi Grad district and the development of the Retfala area to the west.

Twentieth century

The city expanded in the 20th century with the development of new residential districts, including Sjenjak, Vijenac, Ivana Meštrovića, Novi Grad, and Jug II. Osijek's riverside setting and its cultural and historical heritage, most notably the Baroque citadel of Tvrđa—one of the most distinctive architectural complexes in the region—have been significant factors in the growth of its tourism sector. Separately, during World War II, the Osijek oil refinery was a target for Allied bombing raids as part of the broader Oil Campaign.
In the aftermath of the war, the local German-speaking population was expelled. The daily newspaper Glas Slavonije was relocated to Osijek, where it has been published ever since. The post-war period saw the establishment of several key institutions: the city's historical archive was founded in 1947, followed by the city library in 1949. This cultural expansion continued with the opening of a children's theatre and an art gallery. For public safety, the volunteer fire department DVD "Hrvatska Elektroprivreda" was founded in 1950, operating separately from the DVD "Vodovod", which had been established in 1947. Continuing the tradition of promoting national heritage, especially in music and the arts, the tamburitza band "Pajo Kolarić" was founded on 21 March 1954.
Osijek's modern infrastructure began to develop significantly in the late 1950s and 1960s. In 1958, it was connected to Zagreb and Belgrade by a modern paved road, and a new bridge over the Drava River was constructed to the north in 1962. This period also saw the foundation of higher education in the city. The first faculty was the Faculty of Economy, which was immediately followed by schools that would become the Faculty of Agriculture and the Faculty of Philosophy. The founding of the Faculty of Law in 1975 marked a key milestone, as it became a charter member of the newly established University of Osijek.
Concurrently, Osijek solidified its role as a regional centre for food and agriculture, exemplified by the establishment of a major agricultural collective in 1962. Further enhancing city life, a new pedestrian suspension bridge was built over the Drava River in the 1980s.

Croatian War of Independence

During the Croatian War of Independence, Osijek sustained extensive damage from prolonged shelling by the Yugoslav People's Army and Serbian paramilitary units, notably the Serb Volunteer Guard under Željko Ražnatović. The city centre, including the Co-cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, and outlying areas were heavily damaged. From August 1991 to June 1992 alone, approximately 800 people were killed by the shelling. Overall, the war claimed the lives of 1,724 residents of Osijek, including 1,327 soldiers and 397 civilians. Separately, several Croatian officials, including General Branimir Glavaš, were subsequently convicted of war crimes against Serb civilians in the city.

Climate

Osijek has an oceanic climate.
Since records began in 1981, the highest temperature recorded at the airport, at an elevation of, was, on 24 July 2007. The coldest temperature was, on 9 February 2012. The highest temperature recorded in Osijek itself, where records began in 1899, was, on both 1 July 1950 and 24 August 2012. The coldest temperature was, on 31 January 1987. From 1981 to 1991, the lowest temperature at the RC Čepin station was, on 31 January 1987. Since records began in 2011, the coldest temperature at the Tvrđavica station was, on 9 February 2012.

Population

According to the 1910 census, the city of Osijek had 31,388 inhabitants. The official Austrian census lists 12,625 as Croats, 11,269 as Germans or Danube Swabians, 3,729 as Hungarians, 2,889 as Serbs, and 876 others. When categorised by religion, there were 24,976 Roman Catholics, 2,943 Orthodox Christians, 2,340 Jews, 594 Reformed, 385 Evangelicals, 122 Greek Catholics, and 28 others. After World War II, a significant part of the Danube Swabian population was forcibly expelled by the Yugoslav communist authorities as a form of revenge for their presumed participation in the German occupation of Yugoslavia. Their property was first confiscated, then nationalized, and, afterwards, redistributed to World War II victims.
According to the 1981 census, the total population of the city had reached 104,775, including 63,373 Croats, 13,716 Serbs, and 1,521 Hungarians.
Prior to the Croatian War of Independence, the 1991 census recorded a total population of 165,253, composed of 110,934 Croats, 33,146 Serbs, 3,156 Hungarians, 276 Germans, and 17,741 people categorized as Yugoslavs or "others."
According to the census of 2001, the total population of Osijek dropped to 114,616. Croats made up the majority of Osijek's citizens, comprising 86.58% of the city's population. Other ethnicities include 8,767 Serbs, 1,154 Hungarians, 480 Albanians, 211 Bosniaks, 175 Montenegrins, 178 ethnic Macedonians, 124 Romani, and others, including 24 Jews.
Osijek's population in 2001 included 96,600 Roman Catholics, 78 Eastern-rite Catholics, 8,619 Orthodox Christians, and 966 Muslims and others.
In the census of 2011, the following settlements were recorded:
The city's population is divided into the following units of local administration: