Subotica
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Location in Serbia | |
|---|---|
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| General Information | |
| District | North Bačka |
| Land area | 1008 km² |
| Population (2002 census) |
99,471 (city) 147,758 (municipality) |
| Settlements | 19 |
| Coordinates | |
| Area code | +381 24 |
| Car plates | SU |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) CEST (UTC+2) |
| Website | http://www.subotica.co.yu |
| Politics | |
| Mayor | Géza Kucsera (SVM) |
Subotica (Serbian: Суботица or Subotica, listen , Hungarian: Szabadka, Croatian: Subotica, German: Maria-Theresiopel or Theresiopel, Slovak: Subotica, Rusyn: Суботица, Romanian: Subotica or Subotiţa) is a city and municipality in northern Serbia, in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. It is located at 46.07° North, 19.68° East, about 10 km from the border with Hungary. It is the second largest city of the Vojvodina region next to Novi Sad, with a population of 99,471 (according to 2002 census). The municipality of Subotica has a population of 147,758. It is the administrative centre of the North Bačka District.
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[edit] Name
The name Subotica derives from the Serbian and Croatian word for "Saturday" or "Sabbath" and first appeared in 1653. Serbian and Croatian word for "Saturday" is "subota", thus the name Subotica means "a little Saturday". Another theory claim that city was named after Subota Vrlić, who was a palatine and treasurer of Emperor Jovan Nenad in the 16th century.
There have been almost two hundred different forms of the name Subotica in history. This is because the city has welcomed so many different peoples since the Middle Ages. They all wrote about it, naming it in their own languages, which, for the most part, did not fix their spelling until modern times.
The earliest known written record of Subotica is Zabadka, which dates from 1391. This is a variant of the current Hungarian name for the city: Szabadka. However, in its present spelling, it appeared for the first time only relatively late, in 1679. The Hungarian name for the city derives from the adjective szabad, meaning "free", and the suffix -ka, an affectionate diminutive. Subotica’s earliest designation means, therefore, something like a "small" or "dear", "free place".
The city was renamed in the 1740s for Maria Theresa of Austria, Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Bohemia and Hungary. The town was officially called Szent-Maria in 1743, but was renamed in 1779 as Maria-Theresiapolis. These two official names were also spelled in several different ways (most commonly the German Maria-theresiopel), and were used in different languages. This name was abandoned in 1811 (with the Danube Swabians now referring to it mostly as Subotica, and pronouncing it Suboditsa).
[edit] History
[edit] The Middle Ages and the struggle with the Ottoman Empire
Subotica probably first became a settlement of note when people poured into it from nearby villages destroyed during the Tatar invasions of 1241-1242. When Zabadka was first recorded in 1391, Subotica was a tiny town in the middle of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. Later, the city belonged to the Hunyadis, one of the most influential aristocratic families in the whole of Central Europe.
King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary gave the town to one of his relatives, János Pongrác Dengelegi, who, fearing an invasion by the Ottoman Empire fortified the castle of Subotica, erecting a fortress in 1470. Some decades later, after the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the medieval Kingdom of Hungary collapsed and Subotica gradually became a frontier town of the Ottoman Empire. The majority of the Hungarian population fled northward to "Royal Hungary." Bálint Török, a local noble who had ruled over Subotica, also escaped from the city.
In the extremely confused military and political situation following the defeat at Mohács, Subotica came under the control of Serbian mercenaries recruited in Banat. These soldiers were in the service of the Transylvanian general John I Zápolya, a later Hungarian king. The leader of these mercenaries, Jovan Nenad the Black, proclaimed himself tsar and founded an ephemeral independent state, with Subotica as its capital. This state comprised entire Bačka, northern Banat and a small part of Srem. When Bálint Török returned and captured Subotica from the Serbs, Tsar Jovan Nenad moved his capital to Szeged. Some months later, in the summer of 1527, the self-proclaimed tsar was assassinated and his state collapsed.
The Ottoman Turks ruled the city from 1542 to 1686. At the end of this almost 150 year long period, not much remained of the old town of Zabadka. Because much of the population had fled, the Turks encouraged the settlement of the area by different colonists from the Balkans. The settlers were mostly Orthodox Serbs. They cultivated the extremely fertile land around Subotica. In 1570, the population of Subotica numbered 49 houses, and in 1590, 63 houses. In 1687, the region was settled by Catholic Dalmatas (called Bunjevci today).
[edit] Wars for Independence and Revolutions
After the decisive battle against the Turks at Senta (Zenta) led by Prince Eugene of Savoy on 11 September 1697, Subotica became part of the military border zone Tisa-Mureş established by the Habsburg Monarchy. In the meantime the uprising of Francis II Rákóczi broke out, which is also known as the Kuruc War. In the region of Subotica, Rákóczi joined battle against the Rac National Militia. Rác was a designation for the South Slavic people (mostly Serbs and Bunjevci) and they often were referred to as rácok in Hungary. In a later period rácok came to mean, above all, Serbs of Orthodox religion.
The Serbian military families enjoyed several privileges thanks to their service for the Habsburg Monarchy. Subotica gradually, however, developed from being a mere garrison town to becoming a market town with its own civil charter in 1743. When this happened, many Serbs complained about the loss of their privileges. The majority left the town in protest and some of them founded a new settlement just outside 18th century Subotica in Aleksandrovo, while others emigrated to Russia. In New Serbia, a new Russian province established for them, those Serbs founded a new settlement and also named it Subotica.
It was perhaps to emphasise the new civic serenity of Subotica that the pious name Saint Mary came to be used for it at this time. Some decades later, in 1779, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria advanced the town's status further by proclaiming it a Free Royal Town. The enthusiastic inhabitants of the city renamed Subotica once more as Maria-Theresiopolis.
This Free Royal Town status gave a great impetus to the development of the city. During the 19th century its population doubled twice, attracting many people from all over the Habsburg Monarchy. This led eventually to a considerable demographic change. In the first half of the 19th century, the Bunjevci had still been in the majority, but there was an increasing number of Hungarians and Jews settling in Subotica. This process was not stopped even by the outbreak of the Hungarian Revolution in 1848/49.
It is remarkable that despite the diversity of their ethnic origins, the citizens of Subotica (mainly Bunjevci and Hungarians) united in defending Subotica in the battle at Kaponya, March 5 1849. They repulsed the advancing Serbian troops from Sombor in the direction to Szeged. The town’s first newspaper was also a result of the 1848/49 revolutionary spirit. It was called Honunk állapota ("State of Our Homeland") and was published in Hungarian by Károly Bitterman’s local printing company.
Following the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution, Hungary was administered by Baron Alexander von Bach from 1849-1860. During this time, Subotica, together with the entire Bačka region, was separated from the Habsburg Hungary and become a part of a separate Austrian province, named Vojvodina of Serbia and Tamiš Banat. The administrative centre of this new province was not Subotica, but Timişoara.
[edit] From the Golden Age until after the World Wars
After the establishment of the Dual-Monarchy in 1867, there followed what is often called the "golden age" of Subotica. The city had already acquired its impressive theatre in 1853, and many schools were opened after 1867. In 1869 the railway connected the city to the world. In 1896 an electrical power plant was built, further enhancing the development of the city and the whole region. Subotica now adorned itself with its remarkable Central European, fin de siècle architecture.
Subotica belonged to the Austria-Hungary until the aftermath of World War I in 1918, when the city became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Separated from the economic and cultural mainstream, it had to content itself with being a border-town in Yugoslavia. Subotica did not, for a time, experience again the dynamic prosperity it enjoyed in the years preceding World War I. However, at that time, Subotica was the third largest city in Yugoslavia by population, following Belgrade and Zagreb.
In 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded and partitioned by the Axis Powers, and its northern parts, including Subotica, were annexed to Hungary. During World War II, the so-called Miklós Horthy era from 1941-1944, which had catastrophic consequences for Subotica, the city lost 7,000 of its citizens. During the war, Axis occupation troops killed numerous civilians. Almost 4,000 Jews were deported from the city during the Holocaust. Many communists were also put to death. Citizens of Subotica of all nationalities; Hungarians, Serbs, Bunjevci, Croats, Jews and others fought together in the Partisan resistance movement against the Axis authorities (The majority of the local Partisan leadership in Subotica, including the communist party secretary, were ethnic Hungarians or Hungarian-speaking Jews). In 1944, the Axis forces left from the city, and Subotica became part of the new socialist Yugoslavia. After the war, there were executions of those who collaborated with the Axis authorities during the war, as well as the killings of the people for personal revenge during the transitional period until the law and order in the new country was not established.
In the post-war period Subotica has gradually modernised itself. During the Yugoslav and Kosovo wars of the 1990s, a considerable number of mostly Serb refugees came to the city from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo, whilst some of the city's ethnic Hungarians and Croats left the country because of the economic crisis and the political pressures of the Milošević period (Some of the ethnic Serb residents also left the country because of the same reasons). During the break-up of Yugoslavia, local leaders in Subotica were drawn from political parties opposed to the policy of the central government in Belgrade.
[edit] Inhabited places
Subotica
● 
The Subotica municipality comprises the Subotica city, the town of Palić (Hungarian: Palicsfürdő) and 17 villages. The villages are:
- Bajmok
- Bački Vinogradi (Hungarian: Királyhalom or Bácsszőlős)
- Bačko Dušanovo (Hungarian: Zentaörs)
- Bikovo
- Višnjevac
- Gornji Tavankut
- Donji Tavankut
- Đurđin
- Kelebija (Hungarian: Kelebia)
- Ljutovo
- Mala Bosna
- Mišićevo
- Novi Žednik
- Stari Žednik
- Hajdukovo (Hungarian: Hajdújárás)
- Čantavir (Hungarian: Csantavér)
- Šupljak (Hungarian: Ludas)
Note: For the inhabited places with absolute or relative Hungarian ethnic majority, the names are also given in Hungarian.
[edit] City quarters
- Prozivka
- Ker
- Centar 1
- Dudova Šuma (Radijalac)
- Železničko Naselje
- Novo Naselje
- Srpski Šor
- Zorka
- Kertvaroš
- Teslino Naselje
- Aleksandrovo (Sandor)
- Mali Bajmok
- Gat
- Graničar
- Centar 3 (Tokio)
- Bajnat
[edit] Demographics
[edit] Ethnic groups
Subotica is a multiethnic city and municipality. The population of the Subotica municipality is composed of (according to 2002 census):
- Hungarians = 57,092 (38.47%)
- Serbs = 35,826 (24.14%)
- Croats = 16,688 (11.24%)
- Bunjevci = 16,254 (10.95%)
- Yugoslavs = 8,562 (5.76%)
- Montenegrins = 1,860 (1.25%)
- others
The population of the Subotica city is composed of (according to 2002 census):
- Hungarians = 34,983 (34.99%)
- Serbs = 26,242 (26.25%)
- Bunjevci = 10,870 (10.87%)
- Croats = 10,424 (10.43%)
- Yugoslavs = 6,787 (6.79%)
- Montenegrins = 1,596 (1.60%)
- Roma = 1,171 (1.17%)
- others
The city serves as the cultural and political centre for the Hungarians, Bunjevci, and Croats in Vojvodina. The largest percent of declared Yugoslavs in Vojvodina could be also found in Subotica.
Places with Hungarian absolute or relative ethnic majority are: Subotica (Hungarian: Szabadka), Palić (Hungarian: Palicsfürdő), Hajdukovo (Hungarian: Hajdújárás), Bački Vinogradi (Hungarian: Bácsszőlős), Šupljak (Hungarian: Alsóludas), Čantavir (Hungarian: Csantavér), Bačko Dušanovo (Hungarian: Zentaörs), and Kelebija (Hungarian: Alsókelebia).
Places with Serb absolute or relative ethnic majority are: Bajmok, Višnjevac, Novi Žednik, and Mišićevo.
Places with Bunjevac and Croat ethnic majority are: Mala Bosna, Đurđin, Donji Tavankut, Gornji Tavankut, Bikovo, Stari Žednik, and Ljutovo.
Bajmok (Hungarian: Bajmok), Višnjevac (Hungarian: Meggyes) and Stari Žednik (Hungarian: Nagyfény) have over 20% Hungarians, as well as the places with Hungarian majority (Subotica, Palić, Bačko Dušanovo, and Kelebija) have over 20% Serbs, Croats and Bunjevci.
[edit] Languages
Languages spoken in Subotica municipality (according to 2002 census):
Note: The Bunjevac language is also spoken in Subotica, but it was not listed separately in the 2002 census results published by the Statistical Office of Serbia; the speakers of this language were listed in category "other languages". The number of those who speak "other languages" (presumably Bunjevac) in the Subotica municipality is 8,914. [1]PDF Some other members of the Bunjevac ethnic community declared in census that their language is Serbian or Croatian. Bunjevac probably will be listed separately in the future censuses, since the members of the Bunjevac ethnic community expressed the wish for affirmation of their language. They also expressed the wish to have school classes in Bunjevac, and the state will most likely provide this to them.
[edit] Religion
Religion in Subotica municipality (according to 2002 census):
- Roman Catholic = 93,521 (63.02%)
- Orthodox = 38,523 (25.96%)
- Protestant = 2,794 (1.88%)
- other
Subotica is the centre of the Roman Catholic diocese of the Bačka region belonging to Serbia. The Subotica area has the highest concentration of Catholics in Serbia. Nearly 70% of the city's population are Catholics. The liturgical languages used in the city's Catholic churches are mostly Hungarian and Croatian. There are eight Catholic parish churches, a Franciscan spiritual centre (the city has communities of both Franciscan monks and Franciscan nuns), a female Dominican community, and two congregations of Augustinian religious sisters. The diocese of Subotica has the only Catholic secondary school in Serbia (Paulinum).
Among another Christian communities, the members of the Serbian Orthodox Church are the most numerous. There are two Eastern Orthodox church buildings in the city; as well as two Protestant churches, Lutheran and Calvinist, respectively.
The Jewish community of Subotica is the third largest in Serbia, after those in Belgrade and Novi Sad. The astounding proportions and beauty of the Hungarian style art nouveau synagogue are the legacy of a Jewish community that once numbered 6,000 members. Today, less than 200 people of Jewish origin remained in Subotica.
[edit] Demographic history
Before the Ottoman conquest in the 16th century, the population of the city was mostly Hungarian, while during the Ottoman rule (16th-17th centuries) was mostly Serbian. Between the end of the 17th century and the second half of the 19th century, the population of Subotica was mostly composed of ethnic Bunjevci.
According to Bunjevački kalendar for 1868, ethnic composition of Subotica in this year looked like this:
- Bunjevci = 50,000
- Hungarians = 6,000
- Serbs = 3,500
- Jews = 1,300
- Others (including Danube Swabian Germans, etc.)
At the end of the 19th century, and the first decades of the 20th century, the census results show that speakers of the Hungarian language were more numerous than the speakers of the Bunjevac language. However, it is not certain whether Hungarians or Bunjevci were majority in the city at this time. Censuses performed in the Kingdom of Hungary during this time are considered partially inaccurate by many historians because these censuses did not record the population by ethnic origin or mother tongue, but by the "most frequently spoken language", thus the census results overstated the number of Hungarian speakers, since this was official language at the time and many non-Hungarian native speakers stated that they most frequently speak Hungarian language in everyday communication. The Magyarization (Hungarization) policy of the Hungarian government also played a role, since numerous Bunjevci were Magyarized, that is, replaced their native South Slavic language with Hungarian.
Linguistic composition of Subotica according to 1890 data:
- Hungarian language = 38,327
- Rac language = 31,824 (including Serbian, Bunjevac and Šokac)
- German language = 1,898
- Other
According to the official census of 1910, Subotica's linguistic composition looked as follows: The 94,610 inhabitants were further divided by most common language used:
- Hungarian = 55,587
- Bunjevac = 33,247
- Serbian = 3,514
- German = 1,913
- Slovak = 100
- Vlach (Romanian) = 60
- Croatian = 39
- Other
Censuses performed in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between the two world wars indicate that the majority in Subotica at this time were Bunjevci. According to the Yugoslav historians, this further undermine the validity of the results from previous censuses performed in the Kingdom of Hungary, and suggest that even during that time the majority of the city population were Bunjevci, who declared that they most frequently speak Hungarian language in everyday communication. According to the Hungarian historians, the 1931 census may be more accurate than those performed immediately after the creation of Yugoslavia (1919, 1921), which show exceptionally low figures for Hungarians at a time when the new Yugoslav authorities had political reasons to minimise the Hungarian population share.
Ethnic composition of Subotica according to 1919 census data:
- Bunjevci = 65,135
- Hungarians = 19,870
- Serbs = 8,737
- Germans (Danube Swabians) = 4,251
- Jews = 3,293
Linguistic composition of Subotica according to 1921 census data:
Linguistic composition of Subotica according to 1931 census data:
The Hungarian census from 1941 (whose validity is rejected by many historians), show that 59.9% of the city population spoke Hungarian language, i.e. the number of Hungarian speakers increased for about 20,000 (from 41,401 (or 41.4%) in 1931 to 61,581 (or 59.9%) in 1941). The subsequent censuses performed in the SFR Yugoslavia recorded the ethnicity of the citizens, and according to the 1953 census ethnic Hungarians numbered 32,194 or 50.6% of population of Subotica. In this time, ethnic Bunjevci were not allowed to express their ethnicity, and citizens who declared themselves in census as Bunjevci were counted as "Croats". Next censuses also recorded that Hungarians are largest ethnic group in the city, but their participation dropped: 48.5% in 1971, 43.8% in 1981, 39.6% in 1991, and 35.0% in 2002.
It is interesting to note that according to 1850 data, Subotica had a population of 48,126 people. Before the First World War this number almost reached 100,000. When Subotica became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1920, Subotica was the third-largest city of the newly-formed country, after Belgrade and Zagreb. It has since been overtaken by many cities in the region. Since the 2002 Romanian census Subotica has become the largest city outside Hungary in which Hungarians are the largest ethnic group, although they are not absolute, but only relative majority with participation of 34.99%, while 55.94% of the city population are various South Slavic ethnic groups, which speak Serbian or Croatian language.
Historical population of the city in different time periods:
| Date | Population |
|---|---|
| 1850 | 48,126 |
| 1869 | 57,556 |
| 1880 | 62,556 |
| 1890 | 74,250 |
| 1900 | 82,835 |
| 1910 | 93,232 |
| 1921 | 90,961 |
| 1931 | 100,058 |
| 1948 | 63,079 |
| 1953 | 66,091 |
| 1961 | 75,036 |
| 1971 | 88,813 |
| 1981 | 100,516 |
| 1991 | 100,386 |
| 2002 | 99,981 |
[edit] Buildings
Unique in Serbia, Subotica has the most buildings built in art nouveau style. Especially the city hall (built in 1908-1910) and the Synagogue (1902) are from outstanding beauty. These were built by the same architects, by Marcell Komor and Dezső Jakab from Budapest, Hungary. Another exceptional example of art nouveau architecture is the actual Artistic Encounter building, which was built in 1904 by Ferenc J. Raichle.
The most remarkable church buildings are: the Catholic Cathedral of St. Theresa of Avila from 1797, the Franciscan Monastery from 1723, the Orthodox Church from the XVIII century, the Synagogue and Orthodox Church in Aleksandrovo, both from XVII century.
[edit] Education
Subotica is not a university city but has some widely respected secondary schools and faculties.
[edit] Secondary Schools
- Teachers' College, founded in 1689, the oldest college in the country and region
- "Svetozar Marković" grammar school web-site
- "Dezső Kosztolányi" Philological grammar school
- "Paulinum" Grammar school of ancient languages of the Catholic Diocese of Subotica
- Music School
- "MESŠC" Electro-mechanical school, recently renamed to "Tehnička Škola - Subotica" (en. "Technical School") web-site
- "Bosa Milićević" School of Economics
- Polytechnic school
- "Lazar Neśić" Chemistry school
- Medical school
[edit] Notable faculties
- Civil Engineering faculty web-site
- Electro-Mechanic-Programming faculty "VTŠ" web-site
- Economics faculty web-site
- Teachers faculty in Hungarian language
[edit] Newspapers and magazines
Newspapers and magazines published in Subotica:
- Subotičke novine, main weekly newspaper in Serbian (web-site).
- Magyar Szó, in Hungarian, founded 1944, published in Subotica since 2006.
- Bunjevačke novine, in Bunjevac.
- Hrvatska riječ, in Croatian.
[edit] Economy
Surroundings of Subotica are mainly farmland but the city itself is an important industrial and transportation centre in Serbia.
[edit] Famous citizens
- Emperor Jovan Nenad (?-1527), a self-proclaimed "tsar"
- Dezső Kosztolányi (1885-1936), one of the most famous Hungarian writers
- Géza Csáth (1887-1919), a tragic physician-writer
- Tibor Sekelj (1912-1988), explorer, esperatnist, writer
- Danilo Kiš (1935-1989), possibly the most well-known Serbian writer alongside the Nobel laureate Ivo Andrić
- Péter Lékó (b. 1979), Hungary's number one chess player
- Jovan Mikić Spartak
- Bruck Matija (Bruk Matjas), chemist, creator of Kosan
- Eva Ras
- Đuro Stantić
- Ivan Sarić
- Vilmos Harangozó
- Sreten Damjanović
- Momir Petković
- Refik Memišević
- Zoran Kalinić
- Aleksandar Lifka
[edit] International cooperation
[edit] Twin cities
Subotica is twinned with the following cities:
[edit] Partner Cities
Subotica is a partner city with the following:
Budapest, Hungary
München, Germany
Namur, Belgium
Osijek, Croatia
Tilburg, Netherlands
Wolverhampton, United Kingdom- Zirc, Hungary
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Recent (2002) statistical information comes from the Serbian statistical office.
- Ethnic statistics: КОНАЧНИ РЕЗУЛТАТИ ПОПИСА 2002 (PDF), САОПШTЕЊЕ СН31, брoј 295 • год. LII, 24.12.2002, YU ISSN 0353-9555. Accessed 17 Jan 2006. On page 6–7, Становништво према националној или етничкој припадности по попису 2002. Statistics can be found on the lines for "Суботица" (Subotica).
- Language and religion statistics: Popis stanovništva, domaćinstava i stanova u 2002, ISBN 86-84433-02-5. Accessed 17 Jan 2006. On page 11–12: СТАНОВНИШТВО ПРЕМА ВЕРОИСПОВЕСТИ, СТАНОВНИШТВО ПРЕМА МАТЕРЊЕМ ЈЕЗИКУ. Statistics can be found on the lines for "Суботица" (Subotica).
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: |
- The official website of Subotica
- The official business site of Subotica
- Subotica.com - city on the palm of hand
- (Serbian) News from Subotica
- The official website of the Roman Catholic diocise of Subotica
- SOS Synagogue
- Excerpts from the history of Subotica and its surrounding area
- Bunjevci
[edit] Images
 The art nouveau city hall in Subotica |
 Zsolnay ceramics fountain (Green fountain) and the library behind |
 Statue of Emperor Jovan Nenad in Subotica |
 The art nouveau style synagogue in Subotica |
 Library in Subotica |
 Theatre in Subotica |
 Zsolnay ceramics fountain (Green fountain) |
 City street |
