Erdut

Erdut (Hungarian: Erdőd, Serbian Cyrillic: Ердут) is a village and a municipality in eastern Croatia. It is located in the Osijek-Baranja County, eastern Slavonia, 37 km east of Osijek. The elevation of the village of Erdut is 158 m.

Geography

Municipality of Erdut include following settlements:
*Erdut
*Aljmaš
*Bijelo Brdo
*Dalj

Erdut During the War

When Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, eastern Slavonia was soon overrun by the Yugoslav National Army and Serb paramilitaries, led by the notorious warlord, Željko Ražnatović known by the name Arkan [http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/documents/trial/2004-01-13.html] . The battle for Erdut quickly ended that summer as the entire Croatian population was expelled or killed along with other minorities including Czechs, Germans, Hungarians, Ruthenians and Ukrainians in an act of ethnic cleansing. Their homes were soon occupied by other Serbs. ["The New York Times"; May 10, 1992] Many buildings and homes were destroyed, including the Roman Catholic Church. Arkan soon set up a training camp for his Serb Volunteer Guard in Erdut, which became headquarters until the end of the war, when Croatian forces recaptured most of the land occupied by the Serb rebels.

On November 12, 1995, officials signed what is commonly called the Erdut Agreement in which the part of eastern Slavonia still occupied by the Serbs would be integrated back into Croatia, gradually allowing some of the exiled refugees to return to their homes. Erdut was put back in Croatian control in 1998.

Population and ethnic groups

The municipality population is 8,417 (census 2001), with 964 people in Erdut itself, 4,689 in Dalj, 2,119 in Bijelo Brdo and 645 in Aljmaš. The majority of the population of municipality are Serbs (54%), since the largest village, Dalj, is populated mostly by Serbs. Other ethnic groups are Croats (37%) and Hungarians (5%). Dalj is also has the privilege of being the seat of the Eparchy of Osječko polje and Baranja of the Serb Orthodox Church.

Features

The supreme quality wines of the Erdut wine-cellars and large wooden casks are well-known among wine connoisseurs. The largest cask, made of 150-year old oak-wood, with a content of 75,000 l, was included in the Guinness Record Book.

The picturesque elevations rising above the Danube, between Aljmaš and Erdut, are protected as an important landscape. The loess deposits on the remains of old elevations have already grown, and the slopes toward the Danube are cut sharply and rise 70 m above the river. Hunting and angling opportunities in the immediate vicinity. The local cuisine offers Slavonian delicacies, venison and freshwater fish with the famous Erdut wines.

See also

* Osijek-Baranja County
* Slavonia
* Serbs of Croatia

References

External links

* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/HR/0/Erdut.html Erdut]