Vukovar (; , , ) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern regions of Syrmia and Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka and the Danube. Vukovar is the seat of Vukovar-Syrmia County and the second-largest city in the county after Vinkovci. The city's registered population was 22,616 in the 2021 census, with a total of 23,536 in the municipality.
Name
The name Vukovar means "town on the Vuka River" (Vuko from the Vuka River, and from the Hungarian word for 'fortress'). The river was called in antiquity, probably from an Illyrian language. Its name might be related to the name of the river "Volga". In other languages, the city in German is known as and in Hungarian as or . In the late 17th century, the medieval Croatian name was supplanted by the Hungarian .Treasures of Yugoslavia, p.249.
In the Middle Ages, Vukovar was the seat of the great Vukovo County, which was first mentioned in 1220 as . On the right bank of the Vuka was the royal fortress castrum Walkow. A settlement developed in its suburb (), which was granted the privileges of a free royal city in 1231 by Duke Slavonia Koloman. Until the 14th century, the city was recorded in documents as , , , , , and then the Hungarian variant of the city's name – (for the first time in 1323) was mentioned more and more often. Since 1691, the town has been developing on the right bank of the Vuka, initially under the name (); since then, the Hungarian name has supplanted the medieval Croatian name of the city.
Municipal area
The administrative municipal area of the city contains the following 4 settlements: Settlement 2021Popis 2021 po naseljima 2011 2001Popis 2001 po naseljima Grabovo 0 47 149 Lipovača 323 386 426 Sotin 597 782 969 Vukovar 22,255 26,468 30,126
The municipal area is divided into 9 local self-administration units, so-called local boards (Croatian: "mjesni odbor"): seven in Vukovar proper (Mitnica, Centar, Sajmište, Lužac, Trokut, Borovo naselje, Trpinjska cesta) and Sotin and Lipovača.Odluka o području mjesnih odbora Grada Vukovara, 2014
Historical development
In SFR Yugoslavia, the municipalities were generally larger, and the Vukovar municipality spanned the region from Vera and Borovo in the north, Ilok in the east and Tovarnik in the south, but it has since been divided into several municipalities.
Historically, Vukovar was divided into the Old Vukovar, New Vukovar and former workers' Bata village with Bata Shoes (now Borovo) factory, today known as the Vukovar suburb Borovo Naselje.
Geography The city is positioned on important transport routes. Since time immemorial transport routes from the northwest to the southeast were active in the Danube Valley through the Vukovar area.
After steam ships were introduced in the mid-19th century, and with the arrival of present-day tourist ships, Vukovar is connected with Budapest and Vienna upstream and all the way to Romania downstream. The Vukovar harbour is an important import and export station. The Danube has always been and remains the connection of the people of Vukovar with Europe and the world.
Vukovar is located northeast of Vinkovci and southeast of Osijek, with an elevation of . Vukovar is located on the main road D2 Osijek—Vukovar—Ilok and on the Vinkovci—Vukovar railway (and road D55).
Climate Since records began in 1999, the highest temperature recorded at the local weather station was , on 6 August 2012. The lowest temperature was , on 9 February 2012.
History
Prehistory The area of Vukovar has been continuously inhabited for five thousand years, which we know based on numerous archaeological sites. The Vučedol culture, which developed in the Vučedol locality, is particularly significant for the Vukovar area. In 1938, the Vučedol dove was found at that location, which later became a symbol of the town. The Vučedol Orion, also found on Vučedol, is equally important and is considered the oldest Indo-European calendar. In the area of Vukovar, there are numerous archaeological sites from the Bronze, Early and Younger Iron Ages, from which we can see the way of life of the Illyrians and Celts, the original inhabitants of the Vukovar area. During the last decades of the BC era, the Romans reached the Danube in their conquests and built many forts on the border (the so-called Danube limes) as a protection against the barbarian tribes.
The Romans influenced the economy of the Vukovar region because they planted the first vineyards and drained the swamps. One Scordisci archaeological site in Vukovar dating back to late La Tène culture was excavated in the 1970s and 1980s as a part of rescue excavations in eastern Croatia. Archaeological site was a part of the settlement network of Scordisci in the area of Vinkovci.
Early history
The history of today's Vukovar begins very early, according to archaeological data. Slavic tribes settled in this area in the 6th century. In the 9th century the region was part of the Slavic Principality of Lower Pannonia ruled by prince Pribina, and part of the Bulgarian Empire. In the first half of the 10th century, the Vukovo fortress was looted by the Hungarians. In the 11th–12th century, the region was part of the Kingdom of Croatia; from the 13th to 16th century part of the Kingdom of Hungary; and between 1526 and 1687Treasures of Yugoslavia, published by Yugoslaviapublic, Beograd, available in English, German and Serbo-Croatian, 664 pages, 1980 under Ottoman rule.
Vukovar was mentioned first in the 13th century as Volko, Walk, Wolkov, Wolcou, Walkov and numerous other versions (original Croatian/Slavic name of the town was Vukovo). All these different forms of the city's name were used until the 14th century, when the name Vukovar began to be used more and more, to which the Hungarian suffix -var was added, which denotes a fortress. In 1231, Vukovo obtained its first privileges and later the right to levy taxes on passages along the Danube and the Vuka.Treasures of Yugoslavia, p.249 In 1231, Vukovar received the status of a royal free city. Duke Koloman gave Vukovar the status of a free royal city, to encourage further development of the city. His charter meant that the residents of Vukovar were directly subject to the king, not the landowner. The charter of Duke Coloman of Slavonia confirmed the privileges that protected the people of Vukovar. From the contents of the charter, it can be seen that at that moment, an ethnically diverse population was already living in Vukovar. The inhabitants of Vukovar were engaged in trade and crafts. Vukovo County was quite densely populated in the Middle Ages. Vukovar entered the Middle Ages as a suburb with roads, and then a fortress was built. The royal administration is important for the further development of the city. The citizens of Vukovar received privileges from King Ludovik of Anjou, which included the holding of weekly fairs, which led to further stronger economic growth. Due to trade levies, the city's income also increases. The county was densely populated, and according to written sources, it had 33 forts, 34 shops and 1,182 villages, settlements and inhabited estates. Vukovar was an important church seat and a fortified city. The city occupied between of the city area. At the end of the 14th century, Vukovar was one of the largest medieval Slavonic towns with 350 houses and 2,000 to 2,500 inhabitants. During administration of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, the town was a seat of Valkó (Croatian: Vuka) county, which was located between the Drava and Sava rivers, while during Ottoman administration it was part of the Sanjak of Syrmia. The Turkish rule brought great changes to the Vukovar region. On their campaign in 1526, the Turks occupied Ilok and Vukovar. Vukovar lost its significance, but still remained an important trade center on an important trade route. Before liberation from the Turks, Vukovar had close to 3,000 inhabitants.
Habsburg Monarchy
After the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, Vukovar was part of the Habsburg monarchy, Slavonia (Transleithania after the compromise of 1867), and soon after in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, created when the Kingdom of Slavonia and the Kingdom of Croatia were merged in 1868.
Vukovar was left with an almost empty town, with only about fifty houses. The indigenous population is returning to the devastated area, as well as new residents. Because of the need for labor, Orthodox Serbs are settling. In the 18th and 19th centuries, a considerable number of Germans, Hungarians, Jews, Ruthenians, Slovaks and Ukrainians arrived. Thus, Vukovar becomes a multinational city.
After the end of the Ottoman domination (in the 16th and 17th centuries), the German Counts of Eltz bought a large part of the Vukovar area which was known as the Lordship of Vukovar and for the next two centuries they would have a great influence on the economy and culture of Vukovar.
Counts Eltz, German nobility, come into possession of the manor in Vukovar. Philip Karl Eltz, Archbishop of Mainz, in 1736 buys this huge property with more than 30 inhabited places.
At the beginning of this period, almost half of the inhabitants of Vukovar were craftsmen and merchants. Crafts, trade, shipbuilding are developing. Goods are shipped to the Danube countries by ship. Numerous guild organizations were founded to protect craftsmen. Vukovar is the main center of trade for the entire western Srijem.
The Vukovar area has very good conditions for agriculture. Almost 80% of the population lived from agriculture. In addition to basic grain production, viticulture is also important, and horse studs are also famous.
Since 1840, Vukovar has had permanent steamboat lines on the Danube, and since 1878 it has been connected to the railway. The port of Vukovar is the largest port in Croatia. The industry developed slowly due to lack of capital.
According to the population census from 1900, Vukovar has 10,400 inhabitants, including about 4,000 Croats, 3,500 Germans, about 1,600 Serbs, 950 Hungarians, etc. In 1905, the first major industrial enterprise, the spinning mill, began operating in Vukovar.
In 1745, Vukovar became the seat of the Syrmia County of the Kingdom of Slavonia and from 1868 Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia.
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
In 1918, Vukovar became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Yugoslavia in 1929). Between 1918 and 1922, Vukovar was the administrative seat of the county of Syrmia (Srijem), and between 1922 and 1929 it was the administrative seat of Syrmia Oblast. Despite the status of administrative center the settlement will get the city status only on 23 November 1919, by the decision of regent of the new state Peter I of Serbia. After the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and in the wake of communism gaining popularity throughout Europe, Vukovar became the location of the 2nd congress of the Socialist Labor Party of Yugoslavia (Communists) (), where it was renamed the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (). In 1920, ahead of the local elections, the Jewish Party was established in the town while Zionist Association was founded in 1926. After 1929, Vukovar was part of the Sava Banovina, and beginning in 1939 it was part of the Banovina of Croatia. Part of the Serb community in the town and neighbouring villages was dissatisfied with the inclusion in the new autonomous Banovina leading them to present their disagreement in the 1939 Vukovar resolution.
The interwar period in Vukovar was marked with a significant growth of the shoe and textile industry that began operating in the town, including the shoe factory Bata in 1931, which was later renamed Borovo. This consequently led to a population growth–according to the 1948 census, Vukovar had over 17,000 inhabitants.
World War II