Top: Aerial view of Karlovac; Center left: Dubovac castle; Center right: Franciscan monastery and Church of Holy Trinity; Bottom left: Zorin dom theatre; Bottom right: Karlovac train station
Karlovac (pronounced[kâːrloʋats])[4] is a city in centralCroatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377.[3] Karlovac is the administrative centre ofKarlovac County. The city is located 56 kilometres (35 miles) southwest ofZagreb and 130 km (81 mi) northeast ofRijeka, and is connected to them via theA1 highway and theM202 railway.
TheAustrians built Karlovac from scratch in 1579 in order to strengthen their southern defences againstOttoman encroachments. The establishment of a new city-fortress was a part of the deal between the Protestant nobility ofInner Austria and the archdukeCharles II of Austria. In exchange for their religious freedom the nobility agreed to finance the building of a new fortress against theOttoman Empire. It was founded as a six-pointed starfortress built on theZrinski estate near theold town of Dubovac at the confluence of theKupa andKorana rivers. As the city later expanded, the urban area reached as far as theMrežnica andDobra rivers. The star shape can still be seen around the town. It was originally known as Karlstadt ("Charles's Town" in German), after the ruling family, upon whose orders construction began on 13 July 1579.[6] Thearchitect of the city wasMatija Gambon,[7] whilst work on the new fortress was supervised byGeorge Khevenhüller. It was intentionally built on terrain exposed to flooding and disease from unhealthy water, with the intent to hamper the Turkish advance.[8]
Seal of the free and regal town of KarlovacThe city of Karlovac emerged around a star-shaped Renaissance fortress built against the Ottomans
The fortress itself was largely complete by September 1580, while moats and ramparts were finished later, between 1582 and 1589.[9] The first church (of theHoly Trinity) was built in the central square in 1580, but all of the city buildings burned down in the fire of 1594.[10] By 1610, moats and ramparts were repaired, and houses were rebuilt.[10]
Panorama of Karlovac by train, painting by Jakov Šašel
During the fortification of Karlovac in 1588, its supply chain consisted ofDubovac,Novigrad,Bosiljevo andRibnik on the one hand, andOzalj on the other owing the same as the previous four.[11]: 241 Each owed 6 carts of timber,[12]: 246 and although there were complaints about the conduct of the soldiers stationed in Karlovac, the order was complied with.[13]: 254
As a military outpost of theHabsburg monarchy, Karlovac was one of the first headquarters of the general command of theMilitary Frontier. It was the site of the trial and execution of the best-known leader of the rebelUskoks from the coastal fort ofSenj,Ivan Vlatković. He was executed in Karlovac on 3 July 1612 as an example to his troops who were creating difficulties for the Habsburgs by their piracy againstVenetian shipping on theAdriatic Sea, and by marauding raids into the Ottoman hinterland. In 1615 their piracy went so far as creating anopen war between Venice and Austria. When theTreaty of Paris (ratified in Madrid) 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 theŽumberak hills north of Karlovac.
The forces of theOttoman Empire laid siege to Karlovac seven times, the last time in 1672,[14] but failed to occupy it. Theplague epidemic of 1773 also afflicted the city, killing almost half the population of the time.[citation needed]
Meanwhile, the fort was becoming too crowded for the city's expanding population and the Military Frontier government could not allow for its further growth. On 6 December 1693 the city received some limited self-government.
After theTreaty of Karlowitz (1699) and the Ottomans withdrawal, Karlstadt was of less military significance. By the end of the 18th century, the town was a major marketplace for wheat, corn, salt, timber and tobacco, and the source of supply for the Austrian army in Austro-Turkish Wars.[15]
QueenMaria Theresa, after long insistence from theCroatian Diet, restored the towns of Karlovac andRijeka (Fiume) to the Croatian crownland on 9 August 1776. Maria Theresa was also responsible for the founding ofGymnasium Karlovac, and later KingJoseph II reaffirmed it as a free town with an official charter in 1781. This allowed the citizens to expand the city and exploit the potential of being at the crossroads of paths from thePannonian plains to theAdriatic coast. The town blossomed in the 18th and 19th centuries with the development of roads to the seaside and waterways along the Kupa River. The construction of theZidani Most-Zagreb-Sisak railway line in 1861, however, marked the end of the era of Karlovac as a major trade and transport center.[16]
When the German and ItalianZones of Influence were revised on 24 June 1942, Karlovac was the only city withinZone III [hr] in which the Italians were allowed to leave troops, and these were alongside Croatian and German troops.[19]
In 1990, City Council proclaimedSaint Joseph as city'spatron saint.[20] Karlovac suffered damage during theCroatian War of Independence (1991–1995). The southern sections of the city found themselves close to the front lines between the Republic of Croatia and theRepublic of Serbian Krajina, with shelling devastating the neighborhoods of Turanj, Kamensko, as well as parts of Mekušje, Mala Švarča and Logorište. The city center, the city hall, and numerous other buildings also suffered damage. It was also the site of theKorana bridge killings.
The Karlovac City Museum has transformed the old Austrian military barracks of Turanj into a museum exhibition dedicated to the military history of Karlovac and in particular, through the exhibited weapons, of the Croatian War of Independence.
Collection of tanks at the Karlovac museum in TuranjMayor's chain of honor
Until the early 2000s, Karlovac's main industry consisted of brewing thebeer "Karlovačko", produced byKarlovačka pivovara. By 2007, the rapidly growing firearms manufacturerHS Produkt had become the city's largest private employer.[21] HS Produkt is arguably best known as the designer and manufacturer of theHS2000 pistol, sold in theUnited States as the Springfield Armory XD.[21]
On 22 October 2016 Croatia's first freshwater aquarium, and the biggest in that part of Europe, namedAquatika was opened in Karlovac.[22][23]
Croatians know Karlovac asgrad parkova (the city of parks) andgrad na četiri rijeke (the town on four rivers) for its numerous green areas and four rivers, of whichMrežnica,Korana, andKupa flow through built-up areas, andDobra is a few kilometers outside the city centre. Adocumentary film made byDušan Vukotić 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 Fogina beach (Foginovo kupalište) in the city centre.[24]
One of the rarer trees found in the parks is theGinkgo biloba, which localprimary school 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.
Since records began in 1949, the highest temperature recorded at the local weather station at an elevation of 110 metres (360 ft) was 42.4 °C (108.3 °F), on 5 July 1950.[25] The coldest temperature was −25.2 °C (−13.4 °F), on 16 February 1956.[26]
Source: Naselja i stanovništvo Republike Hrvatske 1857–2021,DZS
According to the 2011 census, Karlovac municipality had a total of 55,705 inhabitants. 49,140 of its citizens wereCroats (88.21%), 4,460 wereSerbs (8.01%), 250 wereBosniaks (0.45%), 237 wereAlbanians (0.43%), 72 wereethnic Macedonians (0.13%), 49 wereMontenegrins (0.09%), and the rest were other ethnicities.[27]
The administrative sections of Karlovac are the city neighborhoods (gradske četvrti) and local administrative boards (mjesni odbori). The city neighborhoods are:[30]
Karlovac Music School, one of the oldest educational music institutions from this part of Europe (established on 1 December 1804), is the home ofKarlovac Piano Festival.[32]
Music school also hosts International guitar school, while in Karlovac theatre Zorin dom the "Croatia Flute Academy", a Leading Flute Masterclass in Europe has been traditionally held since 2014, so during summer months Karlovac is center of young artists of Europe.
The city of Karlovac has memorial-sites dedicated to Croatian veterans of the nation'sHomeland War and opened the Homeland WarMuseum in Turanj in 2019.[34]
The local chapter of theHPS isHPD "Martinšćak", which had 99 members in 1936 under the Zlatko Satler presidency.[36] Membership fell to 91 in 1937.[37]: 245 Membership rose to 97 in 1938.[38]: 245
^Kraljevski zemaljski statistički ured (1877)."Glavni pregled sudbenoga razdieljenja kraljevinah Hrvatske i Slavonije".Pregled političkoga i sudbenoga razdieljenja kraljevinah Hrvatske i Slavonije i uredjenja upravnih obćinah. Na temelju naredbe kr. hrv.-slav.-dalm. zem. vlade od 5. veljače 1875. broj 221 pr. i provedenoga zatim zaokruženja upravnih obćinah. Zagreb: Kraljevska hrvatsko-slavonsko-dalmatinska zemaljska vlada, 🖶 Tiskara "Narodnih novinah". pp. IX–XIV.
^Zoričić, Milovan (1879) [written November 1878]."Bankovni zavodi i štedione".Statistika vjeresijskih zavoda za godine 1847-1877 za godine 1847-1877. Zagreb: Kraljevski zemaljski statistički ured, 🖶 Dragutin Albrecht. pp. 1–68.
Cresswell, Peterjon; Atkins, Ismay; Dunn, Lily (10 July 2006).Time Out Croatia (First ed.). London, Berkeley & Toronto: Time Out Group Ltd & Ebury Publishing,Random House Ltd. 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SV1V 2SA.ISBN978-1-904978-70-1. Retrieved10 March 2010.
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