October the 31st, 2026 – There’s a central Croatian city which was once home to a monument dedicated not to a nobleman or a king, but to a frog.
Rulers and historical warriors are the most common monuments you’ll see dotted all over Croatia. A contemplative artist, statesman, writer or philosopher is also not a rarity. Nor is the one and only Nikola Tesla. Women are also found across the country, including the legendary Mila Gojsalić high in the mountains above Omiš. As Lana Mindoljevic writes for Putni kofer, however, you won’t often notice monuments to animals. That is, of course, unless they’re being ridden by some hero into battle. In Karlovac, one of the best-known monuments was for a long time the one dedicated not to a brave horse or dog, but to a frog. The small bronze resident of the city on four rivers stood for years at the entrance to the city’s so-called Promenade.
croatia’s only frog monument
The frog monument was unveiled in March 2008 and until 2024 stood at the intersection of Stjepan Radić Street and Dr. Franjo Tuđman Promenade, better known as the Promenade. Until 2022 it was the only frog monument in Croatia, but then one was also placed in Zmijavci near Imotski. Unfortunately, you cannot see the Karlovac frog anymore. It was removed during the renovation of Radić Street, when it was taken for safekeeping to the warehouse of the Public Fire Brigade of Karlovac. It never returned to its old location. When relocating it, the city announced that it would find a new location for it, because the old one had proved non-functional; it obstructed, they say, the passage and the organisation of events on that Promenade. But the works have been completed, and the Karlovac frog has still not received a new place.
The monument to the frog was unveiled on the 31st of March 2008, and it was made by the academic sculptor Stjepan Gračan. It was donated to Karlovac by the City of Zagreb on the initiative of Zvonimir Bešker, a Karlovac native who worked in the Zagreb city administration. It arrived in the city two years before it was placed, and in the meantime the best place for it was being sought; even placement on the wall of the city magistrate was considered. In the end a location accessible to passers-by and children was chosen, for whom it was believed they would rejoice most in the new attraction.
a monument to the frog catchers of karlovac
The Karlovac frog was chosen because of the old nickname of the people of Karlovac: the inhabitants of the city on four rivers were once, namely, called frog-catchers (žabari). What was once a pejorative name, some of the inhabitants over time accepted as part of their identity. While the frog was still standing in its place, a story also appeared that it brings luck: one was supposed to, allegedly, rub it behind the left eye and make a wish. Whether the firefighters today whisper their wishes to the frog or have already become so used to it that they don’t even notice it, we don’t know, but we believe that many more people would rejoice in it on some public surface.
