Memorie.al/ On April 26, 1938, the day of the wedding ceremony between King Zog of Albania and Countess Geraldine of Hungary, a tall, unusually long automobile of a bright red color, glittering in the sun like a jewel, was lined up next to a carriage pulled by four white horses. It was a brand-new “Mercedes-Benz” (“Grosser”) straight from the factory, one of the most expensive wedding gifts, signed by Adolf Hitler, the German dictator who would later be remembered for all the wrong reasons in the history of humanity.
King Zog’s wedding to Countess Geraldine of Hungary on April 26, 1938, was an extravagant affair marked by a truly unique gift: a custom-built, high-profile Mercedes-Benz 770K “Grosser.” This unusually long, bright red vehicle, a single one of its kind, was a present from none other than Adolf Hitler, the German dictator whose name would become synonymous with evil.
This grand Mercedes would go on to have an adventurous history, sometimes saving the Albanian monarch’s life as he fled from one country to another. The car served as a permanent home for the royal couple for two years as they were displaced throughout Europe.
The Escape and the Adventure
On the day of the Italian invasion of Albania on April 7, 1939 – barely a year after the wedding -King Zog, along with his court officials, departed in a convoy carrying a portion of the state treasury. The massive Mercedes, Hitler’s gift, was the first car to rumble over the dusty roads of Florina, Greece. Just a day after the invasion, on April 8, 1939, it came to a screeching halt at the gate of a hotel.
Within hours, a Greek officer appeared and ordered Zog to leave the country. Without even a moment of rest, the King was back in the Mercedes, heading for Thessaloniki. The Greek Prime Minister at the time, General Metaxas, didn’t want to give Mussolini any pretext to issue an ultimatum to his country.
A few weeks later, on May 2, 1939, the same car carried the royal couple to Istanbul, where the city governor gave King Zog a proper welcome, full of honors and an anti-Italian tone. The Turkish President even granted Zog a private audience. However, even in Turkey, the King did not feel secure. He believed his only safe havens were the European superpowers clearly opposed to fascism, namely France and England.
On July 1, the royal family and the dignified Mercedes were loaded onto a steamer that took them to Constanța, Romania. With Anglo-French guarantees, King Carol allowed them to stay in Peleș Castle. Paradoxically, being dethroned had made Zog a more likable figure to foreign heads of state; he had become a symbolic victim of the Berlin–Rome–Tokyo Axis.
Four days later, their journey continued to Poland. Upon arriving in Warsaw, Zog was involved in a car accident, nearly losing his life while trying to avoid an unfriendly crowd of Poles. The large Mercedes saved his life, but the rare car was partially damaged and had to be taken to a repair shop. After the accident, Zog rented several cars and traveled to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to satisfy his curiosity about these small nations.
On July 17, the royal entourage, now in the repaired and enormous Mercedes, left Riga for Sweden. In Stockholm, Zog gave his first press conference since his exile from Albania. Sitting behind a table with the Albanian flag clearly visible, he declared that every Albanian had a duty to fight for the freedom of their country. From Sweden, the royal family traveled to Copenhagen, then to Antwerp, Belgium, before finally settling in Versailles, France, on August 8, 1939.
A King’s Wealth and a Narrow Escape
In France, Ahmet Zogu tried to consolidate the Albanian factor and influence the great powers to organize an anti-Italian front in Albania. There were even talks of an alliance with the Greeks, but no one’s mind was on tiny Albania and its exiled King. Instead, media stories focused heavily on the amount of money, gold, and jewels he was carrying.
Before accepting asylum for King Zog, the British Foreign Ministry discovered that he had at least £50,000 in gold coins and $2 million in a Manhattan bank, which would allow him to spend up to £12,000 a year. His lavish expenses during his exile suggested his wealth was far greater. He always traveled with nine or ten extremely heavy and large safes under constant surveillance. They contained gold bars that “became a legend” in the press of the time.
Zog was never mentioned without an allusion to his mysterious suitcases, which were rumored to hold great treasures, including the precious stones of the Royal Crown, valued at more than £1 million. Reports of bank accounts in French and Swiss banks reinforced suspicions that he was a millionaire “swarming” in sterling pounds. Some even estimated his wealth at £4 to £6 million!
However, the most astonishing revelation came later, when Zog, sheltered in England, attempted to buy the largest British newspaper, “The Times,” for £10 million. This move revealed that his wealth was far more than journalists had ever speculated.
On May 10, 1940, Nazi Germany attacked France. The doors of Paris were taken so quickly that a large part of the British VIPs could not board ships for the island. A gigantic convoy headed south to french cities with ports still evacuating. Among this convoy, which consisted mainly of luxury cars like “Bentley” and “Rolls Royce,” was Zog’s bright red Mercedes.
When Bordeaux was bombed, Zog moved further south to Bayonne, on the advice of the British Navy. Although he was reluctant to abandon the Allied countries, he thought that Spain might provide visas for his sisters. But Franco’s administration refused.
General Pétain surrendered to the Germans on June 22 and to the Italians two days later. That day, the Albanian fugitives learned that several merchant ships were evacuating Polish troops and British citizens in St. Jean de Luz. They set off urgently. On the way there, German bomber planes “visited” the car convoy several times. On one occasion, when they came very close, Zog didn’t move from the car, trying to calm Geraldine with a mentality that seems to be old among Albanians: “Do not be afraid, no German soldier would shoot at people in a car like Hitler’s.”
It was getting dark, and the last ship was almost full when British Navy officers heard the noise of a car approaching. It was the giant Mercedes, carrying the Albanian Royal family. But it wasn’t easy to find a spot on the last ship. All negotiations failed, and only at the very end did the British officers relent, making a small standing room for the Royal family. It was a time when a life was more valuable than anything.
And so, the Mercedes, a gift from Hitler, remained on the shore along with the Albanian state treasury. Fortunately, the ship did not sail until dawn, due to fear of a possible air attack. This allowed Zog’s Hungarian driver to join the treasury with the King. In the morning, the ship started its engines and departed. The red “Benz” began to shrink on the shore, like a creature with a soul that uttered “goodbye” after a fulfilled mission.
Wedding Gifts and Mercedes Owners
Four VIPs sent expensive gifts for King Zog’s wedding. Besides the Mercedes from Hitler, there was a carriage pulled by four white Lipizzaner horses, a gift from Admiral Horthy, Regent of Hungary; a bronze horse-dragon statue from King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy; and some ceramics from Mussolini.
Almost all the Axis leaders ordered or received as gifts one or more of the 7.7-liter Mercedes-770K cars. Emperor Hirohito of Japan ordered seven armored ones; King Boris of Bulgaria, King Farouk of Egypt, General Franco of Spain, Prime Minister Vidkun Quisling of Norway, Admiral Horthy of Hungary, and former Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany each ordered one. King Zog was given his as a gift.
Herman Göring also owned one, and Hitler was often seen with his 770K, which had a special device with five gradations on the floor to make him appear taller. This type of car was so famous that when one was found abandoned by the Germans near a city in Paris in 1944, it was immediately gifted to General De Gaulle.
The Mercedes-Benz “Grosser” given to King Zog was a large car with all the options. It had an 8-cylinder, 7655 cc gasoline engine, a normal speed of 170 kilometers per hour at 3200 revolutions per minute, five forward gears, one reverse, and a total weight of 3600 kilograms./Memorie.al
