ĐAKOVO U PROJEKTIMA ŽELJEZNIČKIH PRUGA - s posebnim osvrtom na izgradnju pruge Osijek-Đakovo-Vrpolje
ĐAKOVO IN THE RAILWAY PROJECTS - with Special Regard to the Construction of the Railway Osijek-Đakovo-Vrpolje

Summary/Abstract: Đakovo was for the first time mentioned in the railway construction plans in Croatia in the mid-19th century, as one of the towns of a fictitious transversal supposed to connect the eastern parts of the country with Zagreb, that is, with the ports of the Adriatic Sea. Due to the narrow-minded political gaols of Vienna and Budapest the projects were not put into practice, i.e. they were carried out much later, with more or less radical adjustments, in which the railway passing through the centre of Slavonia, including Đakovo, did not gain support of the highest centres of decision-making. The railway reached Đakovo only in 1905, instead of in the mid-19th century or at the latest during the first decades of the second half of the 19th century. The narrow-gauge Osijek-Đakovo-Vrpolje railway was built rather fast, within somewhat more than a year, but the work permit for the beginning of the construction works was long in coming, nearly a quarter of a century. Several reasons for thus could be found, but political considerations seem to have been dominant. The intention of Hungarian ruling circles was to keep the town of Osijek cut off from Bosnia as long as possible. Antagonism towards the opposition politician, Josip Juraj Strossmayer, the bishop of Đakovo, who (at least in the beginning) actively promoted railway construction, should also not be neglected. Thanks to ongoing intercessions from the representatives of the town of Osijek, Virovitica County and the Slavonian chamber of trades, the work permit for the beginning of the works was issued in 1904, at a time when the railway construction works could no longer be delayed, especially because, under the new political and social circumstances, they were in the interest of the Hungarian entrepreneurial elite. The railway was built with only a negligible prolongation of the agreed deadline. According to the ministry’s instructions given in the permit (“Dozvolna izprava”) that was obligatory for concessionaires, the construction works had to be performed properly. After the railway was opened to traffic, certain failures were noticed, but they were not of such significance as to throw doubt upon the whole project. The railway was, during the first years of its existence, and also later, of inestimable significance for the town of Osijek and the entire area of Đakovo, with respect to economic and integration processes. It was significant within the region as well as for its connection to other parts of Croatia.

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