in this area. In 1417, Apatin is mentioned as a property of Stefan Lazarević, who was crowned as the Despot of Serbia in 1402. In 1526-1527 it belonged to the short-lived Serb state of Emperor Jovan Nenad, and soon after (in 1541) this area became part of the Ottoman Empire. During the Ottoman administration Apatin was part of the Sanjak of Segedin and was mainly populated by ethnic Serbs. In the end of the 17th century it became part of the Habsburg monarchy. Many of the refugees during the massive migration of Serbs led by Arsenije Čarnojević in 1690, came to Apatin, Sombor and Prigrevica, thus the Serb population in this area increased. A new wave of colonisation occurred in 1748 when many German colonists settled in Apatin, pushing out the Serbs mostly by force, who then evacuated towards Stapar. The German colonists came from many different regions. The gathering centre was in Ulm, Germany and from that point they were transported by the Danube to Apatin, which became the main base of the German expansion in Vojvodina. The church was built near the port and the city square was also built at this time. The real estate value of buildings, such as schools, fishermen's station, hand craft's workshops, began to rise. The Chamber of Court decided to put forth economic objectives to better the economy, and in 1756 the brewery and distillery were built. In 1764 a large textiles factory was built. In 1760 Apatin was officially proclaimed a town and a main trade centre with a special status. At the end of the 18th century, a catastrophic flood destroyed the old town square, and ruined half of the settlement. The new square was built north-westward from the brewery. The town as seen today, began to take shape. During the 18th and in the early part of 19th century, Apatin had prospered economically, mostly because of developed trade, handcraft and shipbuilding. During the initial years of the Habsburg administration, Apatin was administratively a part of the Batsch County within the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary. Subsequently, it was included into the newly formed Batsch-Bodrog County. In 1848-1849 Apatin was part of the Serbian Voivodship, a Serb autonomous region within Austrian Empire, and between 1849 and 1860 it was part of the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar, a separate Austrian province. After abolishment of the voivodeship, in 1860 it