Karlovac
Encyclopedia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. The city proper has a population of 49,082, while the municipality has a population of 59,395 inhabitants (2001).
Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County
Karlovac County
Karlovac County is a county in central Croatia, with the administrative center in Karlovac.The city of Karlovac is another fort from the times of the Military Frontier...
. The city is located on the Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
-Rijeka
Rijeka
Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...
highway and railway line, 56 km south-west of Zagreb and 130 km from Rijeka.
History
Karlovac was built from scratch in 1579 in order to strengthen AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
's southern defences against Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
encroaches. The establishment of a new city-fortress was a part of the deal between the Protestant nobility of Inner Austria
Inner Austria
Inner Austria was a term used from the late 14th to the early 17th century for the Habsburg hereditary lands south of the Semmering Pass, referring to the duchies of Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and the Windic March, the County of Gorizia , the city of Trieste and assorted smaller possessions...
and the archduke Charles II of Austria, in exchange for their religious freedom the nobility agreed to finance the building of a new fortress against the Ottoman Empire. It was founded as a six-pointed star fortress built on the Zrinski
Zrinski
The Zrinski family was a Croatian noble family, influential during the period in history marked by the Ottoman wars in Europe in the Kingdom of Croatia and Hungary and in the later Austro-Hungarian Empire...
estate near the old town of Dubovac
Dubovac Castle
Dubovac Castle is a castle in Karlovac, Croatia.The Dubovac Castle overlooks the Croatian city Karlovac. Square tower was probably built during the 13th century. In 15th century the castle is rebuilt in renaissance manner. The owners of the castle were various – from Slavonian nobleman family Sudar...
at the confluence of the Kupa
Kupa River (Croatia)
The Kupa or Kolpa river forms a natural border between north-west Croatia and southeast Slovenia.The Kupa originates in Croatia in the mountainous region of Gorski kotar, northeast of Rijeka, in the area of Risnjak National Park...
and Korana
Korana
The Korana is a river in central Croatia and west Bosnia and Herzegovina. The river has a total length of and watershed area of .It rises in the eastern parts of Lika, creates the world-famous Plitvice Lakes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Downstream from Plitvice Lakes the Korana river forms a 25...
rivers. As the city later expanded, the urban area reached as far as the Mrežnica
Mreznica
The Mrežnica is a river in Karlovac County, Croatia.It is long and its basin covers an area of .Mrežnica is considered special due to its large number of waterfalls, totalling 93...
and Dobra
Dobra River
The Dobra is a river located mostly in the Karlovac County in the Republic of Croatia. It is long and its basin covers an area of .Dobra rises in Gorski Kotar near Skrad and Ravna Gora, where it flows first to the north and then turns to the east. It flows past Vrbovsko, to the southeast into the...
rivers. The unique star shape can still be seen around the town. It was originally known as Karlovec, Karlstadt, Carlstadt, or Carlstatt ("Charles's Town" in German), after Archduke Charles II of Austria, upon whose orders construction began on July 13, 1579. The architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
of the city was Matija Gambon.
The first church (of the Holy Trinity) was built in the central square in 1580, but all of the city buildings burned down in the fire of 1594. The forces of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
laid siege to Karlovac seven times, the last time in 1672, but failed to occupy it. The plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
epidemic of 1773 was also a notable threat to the city, decimating almost half the population at the time.
As a military outpost of the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
, Karlovac was the site of the trial and execution of the best-known leader of the rebel Uskoks
Uskoks
The Uskoks were Croatian Habsburg soldiers that inhabited the areas of the eastern Adriatic and the surrounding territories during the Ottoman wars in Europe. Etymologically, the word uskoci itself means "the ones who jumped in" in Croatian...
from the coastal fort of Senj, Ivan Vlatković. He was executed in Karlovac on 3 July 1612 as an example to his troops who were creating difficulties for the Habsurgs by their piracy against Venetian shipping on the Adriatic Sea, and by marauding raids into the Ottoman hinterland. 1615 their piracy went so far as creating an open war between Venice and Austria. When the Treaty of Madrid
Treaty of Madrid
Treaty of Madrid may refer to:*Treaty of Madrid , in which France renounced claims in Italy, surrendered Burgundy to Spain, and abandoned sovereignty over Flanders and Artois....
was concluded in 1617, bringing an end to the war between Venice and the Habsburgs, under the terms of the treaty the Uskok families were forcibly removed from Senj and disbanded into the hinterland, most notably in the Žumberak hills near Karlovac.
Meanwhile, the fort was becoming too crowded for the city's expanding population and the Military Frontier
Military Frontier
The Military Frontier was a borderland of Habsburg Austria and later the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which acted as the cordon sanitaire against incursions from the Ottoman Empire...
government could not allow for its further growth. On December 6, 1693 the city received some limited self-government. Queen Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
, after long insistence from the Croatian Parliament, restored the towns of Karlovac and Rijeka
Rijeka
Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...
to the Croatian crownland on August 9, 1776. Maria Theresa was also responsible for the founding of Gymnasium Karlovac
Gymnasium Karlovac
Gymnasium Karlovac , sometimes historically referred to as Higher Real Gymnasium, is a gymnasium in the city of Karlovac in Croatia. Housed in a dedicated building constructed in 1863, the school considers itself to have been founded as early as 1766. At that time, Karlovac was part of the Croatian...
. King Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
reaffirmed it as a free town with an official charter in 1781, allowing the citizens to expand the city and exploit the potential of being at the crossroads of paths from the Pannonian plains to the Adriatic coast
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
. The town blossomed in the 18th and 19th centuries with the development of roads to the seaside and waterways along the Kupa River. After World War II, Yugoslav authorities established the Dubovac internment camp in Karlovac.
The town's fortunes declined in the 20th century, though it is currently recovering.
Karlovac suffered much damage during the Croatian War of Independence
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...
(1991–1995). The southern sections of the city were close to the front lines between the Republic of Croatia and the rebel Serbs
Republic of Serbian Krajina
The Republic of Serbian Krajina was a self-proclaimed Serb entity within Croatia. Established in 1991, it was not recognized internationally. It formally existed from 1991 to 1995, having been initiated a year earlier via smaller separatist regions. The name Krajina means "frontier"...
, and the neighborhoods of Turanj, Kamensko as well as parts of Mekušje, Mala Švarča and Logorište were devastated by shelling. The city center, the city hall and numerous other buildings were also damaged.
Until the early 2000s, Karlovac's main industry was its beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
"Karlovačko
Karlovacko
Karlovačko is a popular beer in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is the signature product of brewer Karlovačka Pivovara, located in the city of Karlovac....
", produced by Karlovačka pivovara
Karlovacka pivovara
Karlovačka pivovara, d.d. is a brewery in Karlovac, Croatia, founded in 1854 by local landowner Baron Nikola Vranyczany. In 2003, Heineken International acquired a majority stake....
. In recent years, the rapidly growing firearms manufacturer HS Produkt
HS Produkt
HS Produkt d.o.o. is a Croatian firearms manufacturing company, best known for design and production of the HS2000 and XDm, a semi-automatic pistol sold in the US market as the Springfield Armory XD.- History :...
has become the city's largest private employer. HS Produkt is best known as the designer and manufacturer of the HS2000 pistol, sold in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as the Springfield Armory XD.
Description
Croatians know Karlovac as grad parkova (the city of parks) and grad na četiri rijeke (the town on four rivers) for its numerous green areas and four rivers, of which the MrežnicaMreznica
The Mrežnica is a river in Karlovac County, Croatia.It is long and its basin covers an area of .Mrežnica is considered special due to its large number of waterfalls, totalling 93...
, the Korana
Korana
The Korana is a river in central Croatia and west Bosnia and Herzegovina. The river has a total length of and watershed area of .It rises in the eastern parts of Lika, creates the world-famous Plitvice Lakes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Downstream from Plitvice Lakes the Korana river forms a 25...
and the Kupa
Kupa River (Croatia)
The Kupa or Kolpa river forms a natural border between north-west Croatia and southeast Slovenia.The Kupa originates in Croatia in the mountainous region of Gorski kotar, northeast of Rijeka, in the area of Risnjak National Park...
flow through built-up areas, and the Dobra is a few kilometers outside the city centre. A documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
made by Dušan Vukotić
Dušan Vukotic
Dušan Vukotić was an award-winning cartoonist, author and director of animated films from Yugoslavia. He is the best known member of the Zagreb school of animated films....
in 1979 on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the founding of the city plays much on that theme, and shows pictures of happy bathers on the Korana's Fogin beach (Foginovo kupalište) in the city centre.
One of the rarer trees found in the parks is the Ginkgo biloba, which local primary school
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
children are taken out to see as part of their classes on nature and society. Most of the parks are planted in the former trenches dug around the old military fort that were once filled with water as an added layer of protection from the marauding Ottoman armies. One part of the city centre maintains the name of Šanac ('trench') after the old trenches which preserve the old hexagonal form of the historic centre.
Demographics
50,997 of its citizens are Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
(85.86%), 5,076 are Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
(8.55%), 186 are Albanians
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
(0.31%), 149 are Bosniaks
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...
(0.52%), 71 are ethnic Macedonians
Macedonians (ethnic group)
The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...
(0.12%), 59 are Montenegrins (0.10%), and the rest are other ethnicities.
Population by religion are 49,197 Roman Catholics (82.83%), 4,414 Orthodox Christians (7.43%), 653 Muslims (1.10%), 93 Byzantine Catholics (0.16%) and others.
Much of the population of Karlovac has changed since the beginning of the 1991-95 Croatian War of Independence
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...
, with numerous families of Croatian Serbs
Serbs of Croatia
Višeslav of Serbia, a contemporary of Charlemagne , ruled the Županias of Neretva, Tara, Piva, Lim, his ancestral lands. According to the Royal Frankish Annals , Duke of Pannonia Ljudevit Posavski fled, during the Frankish invasion, from his seat in Sisak to the Serbs in western Bosnia, who...
leaving and being replaced by people who were themselves displaced from parts of Croatia that were held by rebel Serbs during the war (such as from the town of Slunj
Slunj
Slunj is a town in the mountainous part of Central Croatia, located along the important North-South route to the Adriatic Sea between Karlovac and Plitvice Lakes National Park, on the meeting of the rivers Korana and Slunjčica...
), as well as by families of Bosnian Croats
Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina form one of the three constitutive nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.There is no precise data regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina's population since the last war. Ethnic cleansing within Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s saw the vast majority of Croats move and take...
who started arriving during the war. The migration outflow was mostly towards Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, the Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska is one of two main political entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina...
entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, and to countries of Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Settlements
The list of settlements included in the administrative area of the city of Karlovac includes:- Banska Selnica, population 90
- Banski Moravci, population 69
- Blatnica PokupskaBlatnica PokupskaBlatnica Pokupska is a village in Croatia. It is connected by the D36 highway....
, population 31 - Brezova GlavaBrezova GlavaBrezova Glava is a village in Croatia. It is connected by the D1 highway....
, population 130 - BrežaniBrežaniBrežani is a village in the municipality of Blace, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the village has a population of 61 people.-References:...
, population 129 - Brođani, population 143
- Cerovac VukmanićkiCerovac VukmanićkiCerovac Vukmanićki is a village in Croatia. It is connected by the D1 highway....
, population 928 - Donja Trebinja, population 21
- Donje Mekušje, population 207
- Donji Sjeničak, population 69
- Gornja Trebinja, population 169
- Gornje Stative, population 385
- Gornji Sjeničak, population 152
- Goršćaki, population 119
- Husje, population 177
- Ivančići Pokupski, population 12
- Ivanković Selo, population 25
- Ivošević Selo, population 7
- KablarKablarKablar is a mountain in central Serbia. It has an altitude of 889 metres above sea level. It lies near the city of Čačak. With nearby Ovčar, it forms the Ovčar-Kablar Gorge of the West Morava river....
, population 111 - KarasiKarasiKarasi is a champion steeplechase horse bred in Ireland and based in Australia. The horse is best known for winning the world's richest steeplechase race, the Nakayama Grand Jump at Nakayama Racecourse, Japan for three consecutive years...
, population 50 - Karlovac, population 46,827
- Klipino Brdo, population 14
- Kljaić Brdo, population 18
- Knez Gorica, population 114
- Kobilić PokupskiKobilić PokupskiKobilić Pokupski is a village in Croatia....
, population 43 - Konjkovsko, population 6
- Koritinja, population 112
- LadvenjakLadvenjakLadvenjak is a village in Croatia....
, population 387 - LipjeLipjeLipje is a settlement in the Velenje municipality in northern Slovenia. The area was traditionally part of Styria. The entire municipality is now included in the Savinja statistical region.-External links:*...
, population 47 - Luka PokupskaLuka PokupskaLuka Pokupska is a village in Croatia. It is connected by the D36 highway....
, population 373 - Mahićno, population 521
- Manjerovići, population 32
- OkićOkićOkić is a village in Croatia. It is connected by the D6 highway....
, population 66 - Popović Brdo, population 244
- Priselci, population 96
- Rečica, population 537
- RibariRibariRibari is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Šabac municipality, in the Mačva District. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 2,131 people ....
, population 109 - SkakavacSkakavac, CroatiaSkakavac, Croatia is a village in Croatia....
, population 267 - Slunjska Selnica, population 77
- Slunjski Moravci, population 84
- Šebreki, population 0
- Šišljavić, population 452
- TušilovićTušilovićTušilović is a village in Croatia. It is connected by the D1 highway....
, population 672 - Tuškani, population 216
- Udbinja, population 65
- Utinja, population 5
- VodostajVodostaj-References:...
, population 509 - VukmanićVukmanicVukmanić is a village belonging to Karlovac in Croatia. It was the birthplace of Ivan Ribar who preceded Josip Broz Tito as post-World War II leader of Yugoslavia....
, population 210 - Vukoder, population 104
- ZadobarjeZadobarjeZadobarje is a village in Croatia....
, population 368 - Zagraj, population 63
- ZamršjeZamršjeZamršje is a village in Croatia. It is connected by the D36 highway....
, population 185
Culture
The city of Karlovac has memorial-sites dedicated to Croatian veterans of the nation's Homeland WarCroatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...
and to the veterans of the Croatian Home Guard
Croatian Home Guard
Croatian Home Guard or also, known as the "Homeland Defenders," was the name used for the armed forces of the Independent State of Croatia which existed during World War II.- Formation :...
.
Karlovac is home to the NK Mostanje
NK Mostanje
NK Mostanje ALL is the Croatian soccer club from the city Karlovac.Immediately after the war, since 1946. year, begin to take friendly matches. All this was closely linked with the founding of "Agricultural cooperatives in Mostanju, just as well as in 1946. year, which will be the first time were...
Croatian soccer team.
Twin towns - sister cities
Karlovac is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with: Alessandria
Alessandria
-Monuments:* The Citadel * The church of Santa Maria di Castello * The church of Santa Maria del Carmine * Palazzo Ghilini * Università del Piemonte Orientale-Museums:* The Marengo Battle Museum...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Kragujevac
Kragujevac
Kragujevac is the fourth largest city in Serbia, the main city of the Šumadija region and the administrative centre of Šumadija District. It is situated on the banks of the Lepenica River...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...