Osijek

Osijek (ō`sēyĕk), Ger. Esseg, Hung. Eszék, city (1991 pop. 104,761), in Croatia, on the Drava River. The chief city of the historic region of Slavonia, it is a river port and industrial center. Textiles, leather goods, soap, and agricultural machinery are among its industrial products. Osijek grew around a castle built in 1091 on the site of the Roman colony and fortress of Mursa. It became an early episcopal see and was under Turkish rule from 1526 to 1687. It was later part of Austria-Hungary and passed to Yugoslavia in 1918. Osijek was the scene of fighting between Croats and Serbs in the early 1990s after Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia.

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osier

1. any of various willow trees, esp Salix viminalis, whose flexible branches or twigs are used for making baskets, etc.

a twig or branch from such a tree

2. any of several North American dogwoods, esp the red osier Osijek

3. a town in NE Croatia on the Drava River: under Turkish rule from 1526 to 1687. Pop.: 85 000 (2005 est.)

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Osijek 

a city in Yugoslavia, in the Socialist Republic of Croatia, on the Drava River. Population, 96,000 (1973). A transportation junction and port, Osijek is the economic and cultural center of the eastern part of the historic region of Slavonia. Its machine-building industry manufactures agricultural machinery and machinery for the textile industry. The city also produces food, condiments, leather goods, textiles, wood products, chemicals, and furniture.