page_title: Fortress of Doboj
section_title: Capture by Austro-Hungarians and Role in World Wars
hierarchical_section_title: Fortress of Doboj / History / Capture by Austro-Hungarians and Role in World Wars
caption_attribution_description: English: The main gate
context_page_description: Doboj Fortress or "Gradina" is located in the city of Doboj, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Throughout its turbulent history, this magnificent object has been burned and ransacked at least 18 times as per official records. Of note is that Doboj fortress was considered to be a royal Kotromanic property, unlike Great Bosnian Duke Hrvoje's Zvecaj fortress or Sandalj Hranic's Blagaj fortress, which were centers of their respective dukedoms.
context_section_description: In 1878, Austro-Hungarian army captured the fortress after a very heavy and prolonged battle with a local population, mostly Bosnian muslims (Bosniaks today). A-H army had losses of nearly 1,000 soldiers killed in the battle around Doboj in the late summer of 1878, on its way to Sarajevo, and as it tried to establish hold in Northern Bosnia.
  While strategically obsolete, of note is that fortress remained in use by A-H forces in WWI and it stationed a strong Croatian Ustasha and German Wehrmacht unit in WWII. This unit remained firmly entrenched on the fortress throughout the entire war. Members of German forces built additional impromptu bunkers surrounded by concertina wire in the early summer of 1941, and due to its location and firepower, Serbian villagers were unable to take this object during their uprising on August 23, 1941 while they successfully captured all other objects and installations throughout the city and completely destroyed remaining barricaded German/Ustasha units in Doboj and surrounding area. Several thousands Serb rebels, already under heavy Croatian Ustasha oppression since April 10 and establishment of Independent State of Croatia, managed to hold onto the city for 48 hours before being forced back across river Bosna as German armored units entered Doboj from Derventa/Brod and Tuzla area. In retreating through the streets of Doboj, they were under constant heavy fire from the fortress and had multiple casualties. 
  On the evening of September 9th 1944, in coordinated action, 14th Central-Bosnian Partisan Brigade and 21st Slavonian Partisan Brigade attacked Doboj and took most of the city by the following morning. However, they were once again unable to take Doboj fortress as strong Wehrmacht units and SS-Prinz Eugen anti-armored battalion (SS-Sturmgeschutz Battalion 7) defended it ferociously. The very last shots were fired from the fortress in early morning hours of April 17, 1945, as the elements of Yugoslav Partisan 53rd division and 14th Central-Bosnian Partisan Brigade stormed into the city from Southern and Eastern lines of defense.
caption: The main gate
exif: {"Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPhone XR", "Image Orientation": "Rotated 90 CW", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "12.3.1", "Image DateTime": "2019:07:19 02:42:09", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "206", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[44, 44, 811/50]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "E", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[18, 5, 1393/100]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "GPS GPSAltitude": "285433/1537", "GPS GPSSpeedRef": "K", "GPS GPSSpeed": "616/49677", "GPS GPSImgDirectionRef": "T", "GPS GPSImgDirection": "1060859/4096", "GPS GPSDestBearingRef": "T", "GPS GPSDestBearing": "1060859/4096", "GPS Tag 0x001F": "60361/8216", "Image GPSInfo": "1864", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2208", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "11317", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/635", "EXIF FNumber": "9/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "25", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2019:07:19 02:42:09", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2019:07:19 02:42:09", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "197856/21251", "EXIF ApertureValue": "54823/32325", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "178306/20701", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "17/4", "EXIF SubjectArea": "[2014, 1510, 2321, 1397]", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "600", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "600", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4032", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3024", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "7/4", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "46", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[17/4, 17/4, 9/5, 9/5]", "EXIF LensMake": "Apple", "EXIF LensModel": "iPhone XR back camera 4.25mm f/1.8"}