July the 29th, 2025 – Imotski might be most famous for its stunning Red and Blue Lakes, but the endearing relationship it shares with Mercedes is perhaps its sweetest bit of lore. Here’s how a town in the Dalmatian hinterland ended up in an eternal love affair with the revered German car.
As Putni kofer/Antonio Ivicevic writes, the harsh karst and the rugged landscape of the Dalmatian hinterland nurtures a very special kind of person. That such people, what’s earned by blood, sweat and tears has always been valued much more than what is merely given as a gift.
Historically, life has never been easy for those born in Imotski and the Dalmatian hinterland, and locals quickly learn that grit and perseverance is sacred. Economic times have forced droves of people born in Imotski and its surroundings across borders to work in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Those who live do not leave forever, but with the clear intention of returning home one day, with a better life and something tangible.
Imotski and the hinterland is a region from which generations have left seeking a better life for centuries, resulting in a German-made car becoming an unlikely symbol for more or less the entire region. For people from Imotski, the Mercedes represents a sign of homecoming, earned status, success and stubborn loyalty to one’s roots. The love story woven by Imotski emigrants and the Mercedes runs so deep that a monument to the vehicle was even erected in Imotski last year.
imotski and the mercedes, a love story that is about far more than german engineering
For people from Imotski, arriving home in a Mercedes laden with German food other products was a message and proof that they succeeded. It was evidence that Dalmatia’s hardest workers never surrendered to a foreign language and freezing winters. It showed that callused hands, hardened by labour on building sites had, eventually, paid off. At a time when others drove the classic Fićo or Lada, the people of Imotski returned home driving the “Minika”, as they affectionately called the Mercedes 115. It stood in front of old stone houses as a witness to the kilometres travelled, the hard lessons learned, and the sacrifices made. Owning a Minika meant that you had endured, that you had not given up, that you had managed to feed your family and save a little more for a better life.
For Dalmatians from Imotski, the Mercedes was not bought on a mere whim. It was not taken out on credit, nor was it loaned. It was bought when something had already been achieved, when enough night shifts had been worked, when every single Deutsche Mark earned from the construction site had been saved up and sent back home, and only then, if there was anything left, was a Minika purchased. It was expensive, robust and “German” to the very core. It was precisely to measure of the people who knew the value of sweat more than anyone else. It had that cool elegance that the people of Imotski recognised and fell head over heels in love with. And what is more important, it was totally indestructible.
serious conversations took place inside it, nutella was transported, songs were sung and tears were shed…
The beloved Minika was also the first place of tears and laughter for many. Serious conversations were held in it, life-changing news was announced, and Dalmatian songs were sung in a somewhat out of tune fashion on the way down to the sea. Likewise, German goods, mattresses and big Dalmatian families were transported in it. People arrived from their workplaces in Stuttgart and Frankfurt directly to Imotski for the holidays, and suitcases full of Nutella and chocolate were taken out of the boot upon arrival. Such sights were not rare to see. In fact, in some villages of the Imotski region, there were more Mercedes parked outside ancient houses than in the entire, far wealthier City of Zagreb. Even today, there are dozens of them in Imotski, parked in front of houses, enjoying the shade under awnings or lovingly covered with tarpaulins. Their number has never decreased. On the contrary, at a time when almost every household in Croatia has at least two cars, in Imotski, the Mercedes remains a sacred four-wheeled guardian.
the people of imotski believed the mercedes deserved a monument, and it got one
Decades have passed. For Imotski, the emigration has not stopped, but times have indeed changed. One thing has remained the same, and that is the deep, almost sentimental connection the people from there have with that car. So much so that the people of Imotski decided to pay the greatest possible tribute to it last year and built a monument to it.
The Mercedes monument in Imotski is the first of its kind in the entire world. The idea was born a few years ago, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, everything was postponed and the monument only saw the light of day in September last year. It was made by local stonemason Mislav Rebić. It is life-size, and it was aptly placed on the Croatian Emigrants’ Square, dedicated to all those who had little choice but to leave their beloved town.
It is no coincidence that the Mercedes in Imotski is built of stone. Stone is what the locals know best and what they used to build everything important: houses, wells, dry walls… So why not memories, too? While German steel was at the heart of the Mercedes, Imotski’s local limestone became the heart of the monument. The life-size Mercedes, carved into twelve parts, stands today as a silent witness to a painful, nostalgic era. An era of departures, returns, hard work, even harder lessons, and pride. It was carved slowly, lovingly, patiently, just like it was done by Imotski’s emigrants on German construction sites. Every detail was done carefully by hand, and every line with intention.
a monument not only to mercedes, but to grit, sadness and survival
The people of Imotski have the astonishing Red and Blue Lakes, they have beautiful nature, prosciutto that beckons meat lovers for miles, and numerous other amazing lakes surrounding the town. Numerous holiday homes with swimming pools are now also being built there, and this otherwise so devastatingly overlooked area is finally experiencing an increasing tourist boom.
Despite progress and all the attractions listed, the beloved Minika has remained at the heart of the town. It’s a car that you will still see in front of almost every house in Imotski today, whether it is standing under a tarpaulin, sparkling in the sun, or slowly thundering down the road with the nonchalance of an old gentleman who now knows his worth. This is a sight that will probably make you smirk, but it should also remind you of some not-so-distant times, when for the people of Imotski, leaving your home and all you knew to try and survive in a foreign land was a painful reality.
