Bačka Palanka ( sr-cyrl, Бачка Паланка, ; ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. It is situated on the left bank of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. In 2022 the town had a total population of 25,476, while Bačka Palanka municipality had 48,265 inhabitants.

Name

In Serbian, the town is known as Бачка Паланка or ''Bačka Palanka'', in Slovak as ''Báčska Palanka'', in Croatian as ''Bačka Palanka'', in Hungarian as ''Bácspalánka'', in German as ''Plankenburg'' and in Turkish as ''Küçük Hisar''. Its name means "a town in

Bačka Bačka ( sr-Cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska (), is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hungary. ...

" in Serbian. The word " palanka" itself originates from

Turkish language Turkish ( , , also known as 'Turkish of Turkey') is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, a member of Oghuz languages, Oghuz branch with around 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and one of two official languag ...

. This word was also adopted by Serbs and it is used in the Serbian language with the same meaning. Older Serbian names for this town were Palanka (Паланка), Stara Palanka (Стара Паланка), Nova Palanka (Нова Паланка) and Nemačka Palanka (Немачка Паланка).

History

Archeologists have proved that people have lived in the area for centuries. There are many archaeological objects from the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

and Roman period. In the 11th century, this area was populated by

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

and

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

. Bačka Palanka is first mentioned as a settlement in 1486, as a suburb of

Ilok Ilok () is the easternmost town in Croatia forming a geographic salient surrounded by Vojvodina. Located in the Syrmia region, it lies on the Fruška Gora hill overlooking the Danube river, which forms the border with the Bačka region of Serbi ...

called ''Iločka''. Until the 16th century, this area was administered by the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. At the beginning of the 16th century, the village was the property of a landowner Laurence of Ilok, a duke of

Syrmia Syrmia (Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is div ...

. It was destroyed by the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

after The

Battle of Mohács The Battle of Mohács (; , ) took place on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, in the Kingdom of Hungary. It was fought between the forces of Hungary, led by King Louis II of Hungary, Louis II, and the invading Ottoman Empire, commanded by Suleima ...

in 1526, but was then rebuilt as a small Ottoman

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

named Palanka. During the Ottoman administration (16th-17th century), Palanka was mostly populated by ethnic Serbs. In 1687 Palanka was absorbed into the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

and more Orthodox

settled here. Palanka was then mentioned as a small town with 167 houses, all of which were Serb (1720 census data). Later,

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

Slovaks The Slovaks ( (historical Sloveni ), singular: ''Slovák'' (historical: ''Sloven'' ), feminine: ''Slovenka'' , plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history ...

and

settled here as well. It was part of the Habsburg

Military Frontier The Military Frontier (; sh-Cyrl-Latn, Војна крајина, Vojna krajina, sh-Cyrl-Latn, Војна граница, Vojna granica, label=none; ; ) was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and later the Austrian and Austro-Hungari ...

from 1702 to 1744. Nova Palanka (New Palanka) was founded between 1765 and 1770, 2 kilometers away from the original Palanka (which then became known as Stara Palanka - Old Palanka) and Nemačka Palanka (German Palanka) was founded by Danube Germans in 1783. Those three towns became one city, Bačka Palanka, in the 20th century. Palanka's industrial development started in 1765, when a brick plant was built. It got its first post office in 1828. In 1875, one of the first libraries in

was opened. In 1884 the Sintelon company was founded. In 1886, the first state school started functioning. By 1894, a railway was built from Bačka Palanka to Feketić and a first

phone call A telephone call, phone call, voice call, or simply a call, is the effective use of a connection over a telephone network between the calling party and the called party. Telephone calls are the form of human communication that was first enabl ...

was made to

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

. In the second half of the 19th century, the German population became more numerous than the Serbian. According to the 1910 census, the population of Stara Palanka was mostly Serb, while populations of Nova Palanka and Nemačka Palanka were mostly German (Donauschwaben). A large number of them immigrated to North America both before and after World War II. Trenton, New Jersey was the most popular settling place for these German Palankaers. The city was under Habsburg administration until 1918, when it became part of the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

(later renamed as

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

). During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(from 1941 to 1944), it was under

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

( Horty Hungary) occupation. In 1944, one part of Bačka Palanka's citizens of German ethnicity left the city, together with the defeated German army. As a consequence of the war, the site of a post-

work camp for the remaining ethnic Germans (

Donauschwaben The Danube Swabians ( ) is a collective term for the ethnic German-speaking population who lived in the Kingdom of Hungary in east-central Europe, especially in the Danube River valley, first in the 12th century, and in greater numbers in the 17 ...

) was formed here under a new

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

administration. After the work camps were dissolved (in 1948), the remaining German population was expelled from Yugoslavia in an

ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, or religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making the society ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal such as deportation or population transfer, it ...

. To replace the Germans, 3,609 (mostly Serb) colonists were settled in the town after World War II. Most of them originated from

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. During the 1990s, about 5,000 refugees from Croatia and Bosnia moved to Bačka Palanka because of the

Yugoslav wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

. During the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

bombing in 1999, Bačka Palanka was bombed by NATO twice, on 2 and 27 April. On both occasions the target was the Ilok–Bačka Palanka Bridge. It was only damaged, but not destroyed. In 2002, 4

ton Ton is any of several units of measure of mass, volume or force. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. As a unit of mass, ''ton'' can mean: * the '' long ton'', which is * the ''tonne'', also called the ''metric ...

s of

fish stew Fish stew is a stew with a soup base or ingredient of fish as food. List Types of fish stew from around the world include: * '' Asam Pedas'' ( Indonesian) and ( Malaysian) * ''Bouillabaisse'' ( Provençal fish stew originating from Marseille, ...

were cooked at Kaloš Čarda at the Bager Lake in Bačka Palanka and it entered the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

Inhabited places

The Bačka Palanka municipality includes the city of Bačka Palanka and several villages. Villages on the northern bank of the river

, in the region of

: * Gajdobra * Despotovo * Karađorđevo * Mladenovo * Nova Gajdobra * Obrovac * Parage * Pivnice * Silbaš *

Tovariševo Tovariševo () is a village in Serbia, in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 2,321 people (2022 census). Name In Serbian language, Serbian, the village is known as ''Tovari� ...

Čelarevo Čelarevo ( sr-Cyrl, Челарево; ) is a village located in the Bačka Palanka municipality, in the South Bačka District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its popul ...

Villages on the southern bank of the river

, in the region of

: * Neštin * Vizić

Demographics

According to the last official census done in 2011, the municipality of Bačka Palanka had 55,528 inhabitants. Ethnic composition of the town and municipality:

Tourism

Tourism is developed in Bačka Palanka. The city is famous for Tikvara, a natural monument. Tikvara is a Danube lake. Tikvara covers an area of . The Tikvara Resort complex is built along the lake for practicing various sports, recreational and entertaining activities. There are 33 archeological sites in the municipality. It is also known for Karađorđevo, which has a hunting ground and horse farm. People enjoy racing derbies in Karađorđevo. At the time of Serbia's emancipation, engraver Marko Vujatović worked on the intricate

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere withi ...

of the Serbian Orthodox Church of St. John the Baptist. Bačka Palanka's Serbian church is one of the oldest churches in

some built on foundations of temples of even earlier times. The north of the town is the Bagremara forest.

Economy and industry

Industry in Bačka Palanka started developing in the 18th century. The first companies were built in the second half of the 18th century. A brick plant was opened in 1765, and a tobacco storehouse was opened a year later. In 1974 the ''Bridge of Youth'' was built to connect Bačka Palanka and

in Croatia. Today, Bačka Palanka falls among the ten most developed municipalities in Vojvodina. Bačka Palanka municipality is an agricultural and industrial center. The main industries are

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

s, electronic and machine industry. The most famous factories are Enia, Sintelon, Tarkett,

Nectar Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...

, Dunavprevoz, AD Bačka, Carlsberg, Marina, Majevica, Plattner, Žitoprodukt, Budućnost and others. The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):

Sports

Sport is very popular in Bačka Palanka. People enjoy swimming in Lake Tikvara and cycling down the banks of The Danube.

Sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

include

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

, football (

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

. There is a

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

tournament every year, Bačka Palanka Open. The most famous sport clubs in Bačka Palanka are: * FK Bačka, the most popular and most successful football (soccer) club in the municipality, and the second division club's longest trail in northern Serbia after the football club Spartak Subotica, Proleter Zrenjanin and

. * Stari Grad, football (soccer) club * Krila Krajine, football (soccer) club * FK ČSK Čelarevo, football (soccer) club in Čelarevo * Sintelon, handball club * Nopal, women's handball club * Sintelon, kayak club * Bačka Palanka, basketball club * Bačka Palanka, table tennis club

Politics

List of town mayors

* Zvezdan Kisić (

Socialist Party of Serbia The Socialist Party of Serbia (, abbr. SPS) is a populist political party in Serbia. Ivica Dačić has led SPS as its president since 2006. SPS was founded in 1990 as a merger of the League of Communists of Serbia and Socialist Alliance ...

) * Dragan Bozalo ( Serbian Radical Party) (2004–08) * Kosta Stakić (Democratic Party) (2008–10) * Dragan Bozalo ( Serbian Radical Party) (2010–12) * Bojan Radman (

) (2012–13) * Aleksandar Đedovac (

Serbian Progressive Party The Serbian Progressive Party (, SNS) is a major populist, catch-all party, catch-all List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. It has been the Ruling party, ruling party since 2012. Miloš Vučević, the former prime mi ...

) (2013–16) * Branislav Šušnica (

(2016–)

Municipal parliament

Seats in the municipality parliament won in the 2004 local elections: *Serbian Radical Party (16) *Democratic Party (9) *Socialist Party of Serbia (6) *Democratic Party of Serbia (4) *Strength of Serbia Movement (3) *Serbian Renewal Movement (2) *Group of citizens "Club of Pivnice citizens" (2) Seats in the municipality parliament after 2008 elections: * SRS (18) * DS (13) * SPS (4) * DSS (4) * G17 (3) * PSS * SNP

Notable people

* Alex Andjelic (1940–2021), ice hockey player and coach *

Bojan Beljanski Bojan Beljanski (; born 22 June 1986) is a Serbian handball player for Vojvodina and the Serbia national team. Club career After starting out at his hometown club Sintelon (later known as Tarkett), Beljanski moved to Spain and signed with Arr ...

(born 1986), handball player, silver medalist at the European championships * Antal Benda (1910–1997), a Hungarian field handball player who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics * Jelena Bodražić (born 1971), a mezzo-soprano opera and concert singer * Natasa Dusev-Janics (born 1982), a Hungarian canoeist, six-time Olympic medalist * Franz Eisenhut (1857–1903), a Danube Swabian Orientalist and Realist painter * Milan Janić (1957–2003), a sprint canoeist, Olympic silver medalist and World champion *

Zvezdan Jovanović Zvezdan Jovanović ( sr-cyr, Звездан Јовановић; born 19 July 1965), known by the nicknames as Zmija and Zveki, is a Serbian former paramilitary and commander of the Serb Volunteer Guard and the Special Operations Unit (Serbia), S ...

(born 1965), also known as Zveki and Zmija (Viper), assassinated former Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić on 12 March 2003 * Mihalj Kertes (1947–2022), director of Federal Customs Bureau of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a close associate and man of trust of Slobodan Milošević * Miljana Knezevic, a Serbian flatwater canoer. 3rd place (2007) in World championship and 3rd place (2008) in European championship * Kálmán Konrád (1896–1980), a top football player in the Kingdom of Hungary in the 1910s * Milan Kurepa (1933–2000), a renowned Serbian atomic physicist * Branislav Lončar (1938–2019), a Serbian sport shooter, European champion * Milan Mačvan (born 1989), Serbian basketball player, Olympic silver medalist * Aleksandar "Aca Seltik" Petrović, singer of the band Orthodox Celts from Belgrade * Đorđe Stojaković (1810–1863), Serbian revolutionary, active in the

Revolutions of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

* Dragan Sudžum (born 1978), handball player * Žarko Šešum (born 1986), handball player, silver medalist at the European championships * Marko Vujin (born 1984), handball player, silver medalist at the European championships * Dragan Zorić (born 1979), a Serbian flatwater canoer and 2006 world champion

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Bačka Palanka is twinned with: * Otradny,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

* Kalush,

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Liptovský Mikuláš Liptovský Mikuláš (; until 1952 ''Liptovský Svätý Mikuláš'', ; ) is a town in northern Slovakia, on the Váh River, about from Bratislava. It lies in the Liptov region, in Podtatranská kotlina, Liptov Basin near the Low Tatra and Tat ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Slobodan Ćurčić, Broj stanovnika Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 1996.

External links

Bačka Palanka Online

Bačka Palanka INFO

Business directory of Bačka Palanka

Danube-town Fun-Forum of the city Bačka Palanka

Tourist organization of the municipality Bačka Palanka

Sports and Recreation Center and Nature Park Bačka Palanka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Backa Palanka Places in Bačka Populated places in Vojvodina Populated places on the Danube Municipalities and cities of Vojvodina South Bačka District Towns in Serbia