From the top to bottom-right, Panoramic View of Doboj,Doboj Fortress, Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, View over city from the fortress walls
Doboj is the largest national railway junction and the operational base of the Railways Corporation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[2] It is one of the oldest cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and, aside fromBanja Luka, the most important urban center in northern Republika Srpska.
Prior to theWar in Bosnia and Herzegovina the municipality of the same name had a larger surface area. The larger part of the pre-war municipality is part ofRepublika Srpska, including the city itself. The southern rural areas are part of theZenica-Doboj Canton of theFederation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the eastern rural part of the municipality is part of theTuzla Canton, also in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The parts of the pre-war Doboj Municipality that are in theFederation of Bosnia and Herzegovina are the municipalities ofDoboj South (Doboj Jug),Doboj East (Doboj Istok) and theMunicipality of Usora. The northern suburbs of Doboj extend into thePannonian plains, and effectively mark the southern tip of this great Central European plain. The southern (Doboj South) and eastern suburbs (Doboj East) are spread on the gentle hills which extend to the larger Central Bosnian mountain areas (Mt.Ozren in the southeast, Mt. Krnjin in the west).
Doboj has been continuously inhabited ever since theNeolithic times. Fragments of pottery and decorative art were found on several localities, with the most known site inMakljenovac, south from the city proper, at the confluence of theUsora andBosna rivers. Archeological findings from thePaleolithic era were found in a cave in the Vila suburb.[4]
TheIllyrian tribe ofDaesitates settled in this region as early as thetwelfth century BC. Daesitates were one of the largest and most important Illyrian tribes residing at the territory of modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, sharing their northern borders withBreuci, another important tribe. Daesitates and Breuci started theGreat Illyrian Revolt, or in Roman sources, the widespread rebellion known asBellum Batonianum (6–9 AD). After the bloody rebellion was subdued, Roman legions permanently settled in the area and built a large military camp (Castrum) and a civilian settlement (Canabea) in Makljenovac. These structures were most likely built in the earlyFlavian dynasty era, duringVespasian's rule.
The military camp was large, in the shape of a near perfect rectangle with large towers at each corner and the main gate in the middle of the central wall, and served as the most important defense on the old Roman road fromBrod toSarajevo, demarcating the very borders of the Roman provinces ofDalmatia andPannonia. It served its role for several centuries with the evidence of Belgian and Spanish cohorts stationed there in the second and third century AD. Canabea contained Roman settlers, with evidence of a large bathhouse with ahypocaust (central heating) and a concubine house for soldiers stationed at the nearby Castrum. A large Villa Rustica was located in the modern-day suburb of Doboj, appropriately named Vila. Very fine pieces of religious and practical artefacts were found at these sites, including an altar dedicated toJupiter, figurines ofMars, and fragments of African madeTerra sigillata pottery. WhenSouth Slavic tribes migrated into this area in the sixth and seventh century AD, they had settled initially on the ruins of the previous Roman settlement and lived there continuously until the early thirteenth century at which point they used stones and building material from the old Roman Castrum in order to build the stone foundation of the Gradina fortress, several kilometers north, in the modern-day old town of Doboj. Nowadays only the walls of the former camp and civilian settlement are still open to visitors.
View of Doboj from the fortress14th Century Doboj Fortress, reconstructed in 2006, with a wooden stage added during reconstruction
The first official mention of the city itself is from 1415, in a charter issued byDubrovnik to theHoly Roman EmperorSigismund, although there are numerous artefacts and objects that have been found (kept in theNational Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo and the Regional Museum in Doboj), which confirm that the area had been inhabited ever since the earlyStone Age, and that theRoman Empire had an army camp (Castrum) and a settlement (Canabea) in the vicinity of the town dating from the first century AD. Following the arrival of theSlavs in the sixth century it became a part of the region/Usora banate (in medieval documents sometimes collectively mentioned with the nearby province ofSoli, hence, Usora and Soli).
TheDoboj fortress, a royalKotromanić fortress, was first built in the early thirteenth century and then expanded in the early fifteenth century (1415). It was expanded again duringOttoman rule in 1490. This newer stone foundation of the fortress was built on previous layers of an older foundation (dating back to the ninth or tenth century) made of wood, mud and clay (Motte-and-bailey type). It was a very important obstacle for invaders coming from the north,Hungarians, and later on,Austrians andGermans. It was built in theGotho-Roman style with Gothic towers andRomanesque windows. The area saw numerous battles in medieval times and the fortress often changed hands betweenBosnian andHungarian armies. Doboj was the site of a particularly major battle between the Hungarians and a Bosnian-Turkish coalition in early August 1415 in which the Hungarians were heavily defeated on the field where the modern city of Doboj lies today (especially around the Makljenovac and Usora areas). As an important border fortress between theBosnian Kingdom andHungary it was also frequently attacked, officially recorded as 18 times, in theAustro-Ottoman Wars, and fell to theAustro-Hungarians in 1878.
DuringWorld War I, Doboj was the site of the largestAustro-Hungarianconcentration camp.[5] According to the official figures, it held in total 45,791 people between 27 December 1915 and 5 July 1917, of which:
Some 12,000 people had died in this camp, largely due to malnutrition and poor sanitary conditions.
By February 1916, the authorities began redirecting the prisoners to other camps. TheSerbs from Bosnia were mostly sent toGyőr (Sopronyek, Šopronjek/Шопроњек).[6]
Most of the prisoners from Bosnia were entire families from the border regions of eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is said that 5,000 families alone were uprooted from theSarajevo district in eastern Bosnia along the border with the Kingdoms of Serbia & Montenegro.[5]
DuringWorld War II, Doboj was an important site for thepartisan resistance movement. From their initial uprising in August 1941 up until the end of the war, theOzren partisan squad carried out numerous diversions against the occupation forces, among the first successful operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The city was an important stronghold for permanently stationedUstaše andDomobran garrisons with smallerGerman units serving as liaison and in defense of important roads and railroads. TheWaffen SS "Handschar" division was partly mobilized from the local Muslim population and participated in battles around Doboj in the summer and fall of 1944.
During this time, theUstaše fascist regime, apuppet state ofNazi Germany, purged primarily ethnicSerbs,Jews andRoma, as well as pro-Partisan civilians to concentration and labor camps. According to public records 291 civilians from Doboj, of various ethnic backgrounds, perished in theJasenovac concentration camp.[7] In 2010, the remains of 23 people killed by Yugoslav Partisans were found in two pits near the Doboj settlement ofMajevac.[8] Thenon-governmental organization which discovered the remains alleges that nearby pits contain the remains of hundreds more also killed by the Partisans.
Doboj with its surrounding area, theOzren andTrebava mountains, was also a particularly important site for the localChetnik armed forces. They participated in battles against the Ustaše, Domobrans, and Germans, initially allied with local Partisan units and then alone, after breaking ties with the Partisans in April 1942. In November 1944, the elements of the Ozren Chetnik Corps and the Trebava Chetnik Corps partook in theOperation Halyard, the largest US rescue mission behind enemy lines. They built an airstrip in the village ofBoljanić from which rescued US Airmen flew to safety toBari,Italy.
The town was eventually liberated by the Yugoslav Partisans on 17 April 1945. The units involved were the 14th Central Bosnian Brigade and the 53rd Division.
The city was flooded in May 1965.[9] During this period, the city experienced mass industrialization, becoming one of the most important industrial hubs inYugoslavia.
Doboj was strategically important during theBosnian War. In May 1992, the control of Doboj was held byBosnian Serb forces and theSerb Democratic Party governed the city. What followed was mass disarming and subsequently mass arrests of all non-Serb civilians (mainlyBosniaks andCroats).
Doboj was heavily shelled throughout the entire war by local Bosniak and Croatian forces. More than 5,500 shells, mortar rounds, and other projectiles were fired into the city proper and some 100 civilians were killed and more than 400 were wounded and maimed during the indiscriminate shelling.
A number of instances of war crimes and ethnic cleansing were committed by Bosnian Serb forces.Biljana Plavšić,Radovan Karadžić,Momčilo Krajišnik and others planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted the planning, preparation or execution of the destruction of theBosniaks andBosnian Croats.[10][11] Plavšić was charged with crimes against humanity that include but are not limited to the killings in Doboj. Her indictment was related to genocide charges in Doboj specifically.
Bosnian Serb forces were implicated in the systematic looting and destruction ofBosniak andCroat properties during theBosnian War. A number of women were raped and civilians tortured or killed. All the mosques in the town were destroyed. A number of mass executions took place in Spreča Prison, on the banks of the riverBosna and in the "July 4th" military barrack in the village ofMiljkovac, all in 1992. Many of the non-Serbs were detained at various locations in the town, subjected to inhumane conditions, including regular beatings, torture and forced labour. A school in Grapska and the factory used by the Bosanka company that produced jams and juices in Doboj was used as a rape camp. Four different armies of soldiers were present at the rape camps, including the local Serbian militia, the Yugoslav army (JNA),police forces based in the Serbian-occupied town of Knin and members of theWhite Eagles paramilitary group. The man who oversaw the women's detention in the school wasNikola Jorgić, a former police officer in Doboj, who had been convicted ofgenocide in Germany but died during the serving of his life sentence.[12][13]
After theDayton Agreement and the peace following in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the city served as a major HQ/base forIFOR (laterSFOR) units.
In May 2014, Doboj was the city in Bosnia and Herzegovina that accounted for the most damage and casualties during and following the historic rainfall that causedmassive flooding and landslides, taking the lives of at least 20 people in Doboj alone.
Throughout the two weeks after the beginning of the natural disaster, the corpses of victims were still being found on the streets, in homes and automobiles.[15] On 26 May 2014, it was announced that the floods and landslides had uncovered mass graves with the skeletal remains ofBosniak victims of theBosnian War of the 1990s.[16] The mass graves are located in theUsora Municipality and the exact number of victims is as of yet unknown.
As a railway hub, before theBosnian War, Doboj focused much of its industrial activities around it. Moreover, as a regional center, it was home to several factories, now mostly bankrupt from mismanagement or privatization, including "Bosanka Doboj", a fruit and vegetable produce factory; "Trudbenik", a maker of air compressors and equipment, etc. Nowadays, most of the economy, similar to the rest of the country and typical for the poorly executed transition from state-controlled to a market economy, is based around the service industry. High unemployment warrants a vibrant coffee shop and bar scene, crowded throughout most of the day and night (it is commonly believed that Doboj is one of the top three cities having the largest number of cafes and bars/pubs within city limits in Bosnia & Herzegovina).
In 1981, Doboj's GDP per capita was 53% of the Yugoslav average.[19]
Economic preview
Doboj Municipal Assembly
The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in professional fields per their core activity (as of 2018):[20]
Professional field
Total
Agriculture, forestry and fishing
166
Mining and quarrying
108
Manufacturing
1,061
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply
340
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities
223
Construction
733
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles
2,446
Transportation and storage
1,600
Accommodation and food services
605
Information and communication
230
Financial and insurance activities
248
Real estate activities
1
Professional, scientific and technical activities
261
Administrative and support service activities
321
Public administration and defense; compulsory social security
Doboj hosts the privateSlobomir P University, with several colleges likethe Faculty of information technology;the Faculty of economics and management;the Faculty of philology; the Faculty of law;a Fiscal Academy and the Academy of Arts. Doboj also seats the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Technical School, as well as several specialized high schools.
The four squares represent the four mountains which mark the outer borders of the Doboj valley in which the City of Doboj lies in:Ozren,Trebava, Vučjak, and Krnjin. Thefleur-de-lis represent the medieval origins of the city in the royal fortressGradina built by the kings from the medieval Bosnian dynasty ofKotromanić.
^"Doboj Climate Normals 1991–2020".World Meteorological Organization Climatological Standard Normals (1991–2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived fromthe original on 4 September 2023. Retrieved4 September 2023.
