The Mačkamama statue in central Osijek depicts Paulina Hermann, an eccentric 19th-century noblewoman who became a local legend for her obsessive devotion to cats. The bronze figure shows her surrounded by cats at her feet — an accurate representation of how she spent most of her life in her mansion on the main street.
Hermann kept hundreds of cats and left her fortune for their care in her will. After her death in 1832, her cats were dispersed across the city. She is still remembered fondly in Osijek, where the statue has become one of those slightly peculiar local landmarks that residents show visitors with a mixture of pride and amusement. The nose of one of the bronze cats has been rubbed smooth by passersby seeking good luck.