Osijek, also known by the Hungarian name Eszék, German names Esseg, Essegg and Essek, and the Italian name Òssero, is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, and the largest city and the economic and cultural center of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia. It's the administrative center of Osijek-Baranja County, and it's located on the right bank of the Drava River. After the conquest of Pannonia, Osijek, known at the time as Mursa, was under the administration and protection of the Roman 7th Legion, which maintained a military castrum at the colony and a bridge over the river Drava. The Roman emperor Hadrian raised the old settlement of Mursa to the status of a colony.

In 1809, Osijek was granted the title of a Free Royal City, and during the early 19th century, it was the largest city in Croatia. The city developed along the lines of other central European cities, with cultural, architectural, and socioeconomic influences filtering down from Vienna and Buda.