Welcome back to another post to Follow the money explore the country. Last time we learned a little about the twenty kuna bill and the city of Vukovar. In my first post, I covered an introduction of the Kuna Croatia's currency.

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In this post, I will introduce you to the 200 kuna bill which will take us to the city of Osijek, its historic monuments and one famous political figure who is not from Osijek. First I will cover the city and after that, the person on the obverse of the banknote.

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The city of Osijek

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Osijek is a short car, bus or train ride away from Vukovar, about 35 kilometers or about 21.7 miles it is the largest city in Slavonia and the capital of Osječko -Baranjska county. It also the fourth largest city in Croatia with about 100 000 people living there, the number may be off by quite a bit Slavonia and Osijek wet through a massive depopulation in the last few years. The city lies on the Drava river and has the most city parks and green areas than any other city with about 17 public parks in total. Osijek is not just a center for industry, culture but also an educational hub with the Strossmayer university being one of the largest in Croatia.

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Among other interesting sights to check out if you visit Osijek are the church of Saint Peter and Paul from 1894. build in a neogothic style. Also worth a visit is the Museum of Slavonia, the old city center called Tvrđa which I will cover in more detail in the post, the Drava promenade to take a stroll along in the summer where you can take a swim on the city river beaches. Osijek has a very good public transportation system with bus and tram connections throughout the city.

About Stjepan Radić

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He is one of Croatia's famous politician's whos live ended tragically after an assassination attempt. Among others, he was a writer, publicist, activist and translator. Stjepan Radić was born in 1871 in a small village near Sisak as the 9th of eleven children. He almost took a different direction and did not get an education because of problems with his eyes, he was extremely nearsighted and later in life almost blinde.

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At a young age, he began to demonstrate his political views publicly against the Austro Hungarian empire and was denied further education as he was thrown out of high school and later even from Zagreb university were he studied law. Because of his political views and the idea of an independent state he moved around the empire, went through various city's and worked at like-minded newspapers. He eventually graduated in 1899. with a degree in political science at Pariz university making him one of the first Croatian politicians with a degree in political science. Along the way, he spent some time in prison because of his political views, and could not hold a job. He and his brother founded in 1904. Hrvatska pučka seljačka stranka or Croatian People's Peasant Party one of Croatia's major political party's of that time.

After WWI he and his political party were strong opponents of the unification of the South Slavic states. In 1920. during the rally of the Croatians People Peasant Party happened the first assassination attempt on Radićs life which he survived. The attack in the Peoples Assembly in 1928. by Puiša Račić a member of the Peoples Radical Party ended Radićs life along with several other Croatian politicians.

Stjepan Radić died of his wounds at age 57. just a few weeks after the attack. His funeral massively attended by his followers and his death left an irreparable tear in Croat Serbian relation. He was buried at Mirogoj cemetery in Zagreb.

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Palace of Slavonian General Command

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The General command building was commissioned by Prince Eugene of Savoy and constructed by an unknown architect in 1724. and remodeled during later years. It is considered one of most impressive baroque buildings in Croatia.

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In Croatian, this building is known as Zgrada glavnog zapovjedništva and can be seen on the backside of the two hundred Kuna bill. The building was the General Command of the Slavonian military frontier and today it is the rectorate of the University in Osijek. It stands on Trinity square in the historical part know as Tvrđa. This is the Old Town of Osijek a unique and historically intact architectural complex built during the 18 century by the Austrian empire. The Tvrđa was not used only by the army but also was the administrative and cultural center of Osijek. It is actually a star formed fortress build after the Ottoman forces left the area during the 17th century.

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n the banknote, you will notice a statue in front of the General Command building. This is the votive statue of the Holy Trinity standing on the same named square build in 1729. The statue consists of a pedestal on which a high pillar is erected on top of the pillar a dove can be seen this is the representation of the holy trinity God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The saints you see around the base of the pillar are the patron saints of the plague St. Sebastian, St. Roch, St. Charles, St. Francis and St. Rosalia. During renovation in 1784. four more statues of Santis were added among them are Saint Joseph, John, Catherine and the holy Mary.

All in all, Osijek is a unique and historically significant city in Slavonia which is worth a visit. It is very well connected with an airport and main train station to other major cities in Europe so it is no problem to get to. If your travels take u into continental Croatia I recommend a few days of Osijek and the surrounding area.

Stay tuned for the fourth part of the series which will take us to the capital Zagreb.

Check out some of my other travels into the Dalmatian hinterland

If you have any questions please let me know in the comments below