Tovarnik

Tovarnik (pronounced [tǒvaːrniːk], Serbian Cyrillic: Товарник, Hungarian: Felsőtárnok, German: Sankt Georg, Latin: Ulmo) is a municipality in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in Croatia next to the border with Serbia. According to the 2001 census, there are 2,775 inhabitants, 91.06% which are Croats.[2] The municipality is part of Syrmia. It is the birthplace of great Croatian poet Antun Gustav Matoš. Tovarnik is underdeveloped municipality which is statistically classified as the First Category Area of Special State Concern by the Government of Croatia.[3]

This article is about the village and municipality in Croatia. For the village in Serbia, see Donji Tovarnik.

Tovarnik
Municipality
Seal
Tovarnik Location in Croatia
Coordinates: 45°10′N 19°9′E
Country	Croatia
Region	Syrmia (Podunavlje)
County	Vukovar-Syrmia
Area [1]
• Total	64.39 km^2 (24.86 sq mi)
Population  (2011)
• Total	2,775
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	32249
Area code(s)	32
Vehicle registration	VU

Geography

The municipality is located in historical regions of Syrmia. The total area of the municipality is 64.56 km². The territory of the municipality is completely flat with very fertile black soil. The municipality shares borders with municipalities of Lovas to north, Tompojevci to northwest, Nijemci to west and southwest and the Republic of Serbia to south, east and north-east where it borders the town of Šid.

Climate and weather

Tovarnik municipality has a moderately warm and rainy continental climate as defined by the Köppen climate classification. Due to the influence of continentality temperature differences within one year are more pronounced than in the rest of country.

History

Ancient history

During the classical time the settlement called Ulmo existed at the place of modern day Tovarnik in what was then Roman province Pannonia Secunda.[4]

Medieval and early modern history

Birth-house of Antun Gustav Matoš

The contemporary settlement was firstly mentioned in 1335.[4] Catholic religious document from 1632 states that the village is inhabited not only by Catholic population but by Turks and Orthodox who altogether live in 30 houses on the road which connects Belgrade and Istanbul with Budapest.[4] On 28 March 1737 the village was purchased by the House of Eltz.[4] The local school was opened in 1758, post office in 1826 and the Tovarnik railway station in 1890. In 1894 local Croat Reading House was established as well.[4]

Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia Tovarnik war administratively part of Šid Srez firstly within the pre-Yugoslav the Syrmia County (up to 1922), the Syrmia Oblast (1922–1929), after that the Danube Banovina (1929–1939) and ultimately the Banovina of Croatia (1939-1941).

World War II

During the World War II Tovarnik was a part of Independent State of Croatia, a puppet state led by the fascist Ustaša organization which at the time ruled the entire Syrmia region and implemented genocide of Serbs on its territory. The historical Serb village of Ivanci, which was located south of Ilača, was completely destroyed on 30 November 1943 while 73 inhabitants were killed in half an hour.[5] The village of Ivanci was center of the Yugoslav Partisans in Syrmia with established local branches of Women's Antifascist Front of Yugoslavia and League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia.[5] Surviving villagers found rescue in Šidski Banovci, Tovarnik and Ilača.[5] After the Syrmian Front broke through on 12 April 1945 local Danube Swabians and some Croats in Tovarnik (51 in total) were exposed to a wave of executions of suspected collaborators who were executed by being pushed from the tower of the Church of St. George.[6] Protestant Danube Swabians from Šidski Banovci were expelled despite the fact that they helped to save survivors from Ivanci and were more protective of local Orthodox population than Catholic Danube Swabians.[5]

Socialist Yugoslavia

Some minor issues regarding the border between the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, a part of the Socialist Republic of Serbia, and Socialist Republic of Croatia were left unresolved by the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia on 24 February 1945. In order to settle the matter, the federal authorities set up a five-member commission presided over by Milovan Đilas in June 1945. As one of disputed territories District of Šid was identified. Commission concluded that District of Šid, with Tovarnik as a part of it at the time, shall become a part of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. Commission's demarcation was partially changed in several instances including in the case of District of Šid where Tovarnik, Ilača and Šidski Banovci were subsequently transferred to the Socialist Republic of Croatia. In 1960-1962 the general land management project was completed enabling drained of a couple of curlers and subsequent agricultural use of the land.[4]

Croatian War of Independence

Passport stamp from the border with Serbia.

At the time of March 1991 Croatian census out of total 3001 inhabitants of Tovarnik there was 2136 (71,2%) Croats, 670 (22,3%) Serbs, 105 Yugoslavs and 90 members of other groups.[4]

UNTAES protectorate

European migrant crisis

Main article: European migrant crisis

Since the city of Tovarnik is next to the border with Serbia and nearly 80% of the border consist of the Danube river, but there is a 70 kilometers-long so-called "Green Border" near Tovarnik and is therefore at risk for a strong inflow of migrants from Serbia considering that Hungary erected a fence on its border with Serbia. Also, parts of the Croatia-Serbia border are known minefields, which represent a considerable threat. According to the Croatian Minister of Interior Ranko Ostojić, "police in the area have enough people and equipment to protect the Croatian border against illegal immigrants".[7] Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and First Deputy Prime Minister Vesna Pusić have so far rejected the option of building a fence along the Croatian border with Serbia.[8][9] Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović said his country is ready to help refugees coming to Europe, insisting that people fleeing conflict should be given the right to remain in the EU.[10]

On 15 September 2015, Croatia started to experience the first major waves of refugees of the Syrian Civil War. First Syrian refugees cross Croatia-Serbia border, carving out potential new route through Europe after Hungary seals borders.[11] On September 15, 2015, Hungary announced it would start arresting people crossing the border illegally, and as of early 16 September, Hungary had detained 519 people and pressed criminal charges against 46 for trespassing.[12] Thousands of migrants were subsequently led to pursue alternative routes through Croatia from Serbia.[12] After Hungary closed its border with Serbia on September 15, migrants headed towards the Serbian town of Šid, less than 10 kilometers from the Croatian border. Several buses filled with migrants arrived on the Croatian border crossing of Tovarnik, where the Croatian Vukovar-Srijem County Care and Rescue teams as well as the Croatian Red Cross were on standby awaiting migrants.[13] On September 17 at 3:30 AM, more than 5,000 migrants have arrived in Tovarnik.[14] Since the number of refugees is rising and expected to peak at 20,000, it is likely that they will be moved to Zagreb Fair as planned.[15] Interior Minister Ranko Ostojić said Croatia is "absolutely full" by the evening of 17 September 2015, and Croatia decided to close its border with Serbia.[16]

Contemporary Period

In early 2019 villages of Tovarnik, Ilača and Banovci organized joint demonstrations against truck drivers from countries other than Croatia and Serbia which are causing heavy traffic congestion on the D46 road while waiting to cross the state border between Croatia and Serbia.[17][18] Citizens requested redirection of all truck transportation, with the exception of Croatian and Serbian trucks traveling to one or the other state, to be removed from the D46 road and redirected to A3 motorway.[17]

Gallery

• 
• 
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  Church of St. George, Tovarnik
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  Church of Saint Matthew, Tovarnik
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Notable natives and residents

• Antun Gustav Matoš
• Vojislav Stanimirović

Settlements

The settlements of Ilača and Tovarnik comprise the Tovarnik municipality.

See also

• European migrant crisis
• Ilača apparitions
• Tovarnik railway station

References

1. "Općine na područjima posebne državne skrbi Republike Hrvatske" (PDF). Croatian Chamber of Economy. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
2. "Population by Ethnicity, by Towns/Municipalities, 2011 Census: County of Vukovar-Sirmium". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. December 2012.
3. Lovrinčević, Željko; Davor, Mikulić; Budak, Jelena (June 2004). "AREAS OF SPECIAL STATE CONCERN IN CROATIA- REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT DIFFERENCES AND THE DEMOGRAPHIC AND EDUCATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS". Ekonomski pregled, Vol.55 No.5-6. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
4. Penava, Šimun (1994). "Memento za Tovarnik (svibanj-rujan 1991)". Sociologija i prostor : časopis za istraživanje prostornoga i sociokulturnog razvoja (in Croatian) (123–124): 101–109. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
5. Šašić, Tijana (25 March 2017). "Ivanci – selo kojeg više nema". Privrednik. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
6. "OBLJETNICA: U Tovarniku obilježena 68. obljetnica stradanja Hrvata i Nijemaca". 7 December 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
7. "Hrvatska na udaru imigranata, krizne točke Bajakovo i Tovarnik". Večernji.hr.
8. T.V. "Grabar KitaroviĆ: Hrvatska neće graditi zidove prema Srbiji kao Mađarska". Dnevnik.hr.
9. "'HRVATSKA NEĆE GRADITI ZIDOVE AKO VAL IZBJEGLICA KRENE PREMA NAMA' Vesna Pusić iskazala prezir prema mađarskom rješenju – Jutarnji.hr". jutarnji.hr.
10. Croatian PM Pledges Help for Refugees
11. Refugees cross Croatia border in search of new route
12. Rick Lyman and Dan Bilefsky (September 16, 2015). "Migrants Clash With Police in Hungary, as Others Enter Croatia". The New York Times. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
13. http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/pogledajte-video-i-fotografije-iz-tovarnika/842208.aspx
14. http://www.jutarnji.hr/foto--izbjeglicka-drama-u-hr-u-hrvatsku-uslo-5650-izbjeglica--u-tovarniku-situacija-izmakla-kontroli/1419579/
15. http://www.jutarnji.hr/izbjeglice-ce-biti-smjestene-na-velesajmu-satori-nicu-u-dva-paviljona--ali-nedostaje-plahti--deka--jastuka---/1419731/
16. Migrant crisis: Croatian PM says country cannot stop migrants
17. "Kolone kamiona zagorčavaju život stanovnicima Tovarnika: Imam osjećaj da se nalazimo u '91. kad smo bili pod okupacijom"". Dnevnik.hr. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
18. "Ili zabrana za teške kamione ili blokada ceste". Glas Slavonije. 26 April 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2020.