The Vukovar area has always been an intersection of roads, the place where different cultures meet, but also a battleground in wars. The continuity of population in the Vukovar area can be followed for five thousand years through numerous archaeological sites. The Vučedol Culture, which was named for the location Vučedol, located five kilometres downstream on the Danube, holds particular importance for this area. The Vučedol Dove, found in 1938, became the symbol of the city. Also, the Orion from Vučedol, which is considered to be the oldest calendar in Europe, has equal importance.
Vukovar suffered the greatest victim in the war in 1991. The beginning of the armed assault on Vukovar happened on May 2nd, 1991 when 12 Croatian policemen were killed in Borovo Selo. The attack on Vukovar began on August 24th, 1991 and the city was under siege for three months after that. On November 18th, 1991 Vukovar lost the battle and succumbed to military occupation. The population of non-Serbian descent (about 22 thousand people) were driven out of the city and more than 6 thousand residents of Vukovar were taken to numerous camps in Serbia. Many of them were abused and some of them never left the camps alive. The city was destroyed in 1991. The approach to restoration was that the city’s most recognisable features should be restored – the old streets and squares – which will provide the City on the Danube with its recognisable Western European, baroque feel. In 1997 the process of peaceful reintegration began. The City Administration achieved the conditions for the reinstitution of services and the return of the exiled population, and from that moment onward Vukovar is regaining its former identity with each passing day. Vukovar is a symbol of resistance, invincibility, and persistence. At the same time Vukovar is a symbol of peace, to which the courage, sacrifice, and greatness of its defenders grant an exalted place in the process of creating the independent Republic of Croatia.
