Maribor Stories: The Expelled Tesla explores a lesser-known period in the life of Nikola Tesla. After leaving his technical studies in Graz, he arrived in Maribor in autumn 1878 and found work as a technical draughtsman at the Druško workshop. The city was developing as an industrial centre, while Tesla had yet to make the inventions for which he would later become famous.
In his free time, Tesla enjoyed cards and billiards at the Pri veselem kmetu inn, near today's junction of Partizanska Road and Mlinska Street. His stay is documented in Maribor's municipal records from 1879, the key surviving official evidence of this episode.
On 8 March 1879, local gendarmes detained Tesla because he lacked the required residence permit. The authorities ordered his deportation to Gospić, ending his stay in Maribor. Part of the Maribor Stories collection, the account reveals an unexpected connection between the city and a future pioneer of electrical engineering.