Hrvatska - Kroatien - Croatia - Europa

The average European has a clear picture of Croatia. It consists of a digitally processed aerial photograph of a green island surrounded by very blue water. There are no people anywhere, maybe a romantic sailboat appears. But this clichéd image is way off the mark. It has little to do with the country as it really is. Of course, there are those 1000 islands, and they are among the most beautiful in the world, but they are much more than "just" a paradise for tourists. Croatia is amazing and surprisingly diverse. And it is inhabited by wonderful, interesting, hospitable and sometimes idiosyncratic people. Croatia, the name itself, says a lot about the country. It starts very soft and warm, but ends hard, reflecting the complexity of this country. And yet, everything in Croatia fits together harmoniously, there is peace side by side and with each other. This is probably due to the fact that the country is located at the interface between the Balkans and Central Europe. That's what makes it so exciting. The question whether Croatia belongs to the Balkans or not is almost a matter of religion. "For me, the Balkans is an area where the Ottomans shaped the mentality for 500 years, that was not the case with the Croats," says Zagreb banker Baron Nikola Adamovič. "The local population differs from its eastern neighbors from those in Vojvodina, with the exception of its predominantly Occidental orientation throughout history and the consequent influence on science, art, culture and religion. East of the former Austro-Hungarian border, on the other hand, Byzantine influences and orientation towards the East were are dominant." And so in Croatia the advantages of both ways of life are combined in the most pleasant way, not only in the kitchen. Balkan tranquility meets Austrian bureaucracy. This country and its people enrich Europe with its melange of Mediterranean, Alpine, and Balkan essence.