This mermaid statue first appeared in Boltenhagen on the north coast of Germany in early 2005, with no one apparently knowing where it came from. ( map )
After making quite a splash and spawning a small cottage industry of mermaid mementos and figurines, the mermaid statue disappeared without a trace in late February 2006.
A replica showed up however, in April of 2007, in Travemünde, about 15 miles from where the Boltenhagen mermaid sculpture sat. ( map ) This replica was so exact that the owner of this new mermaid statue was taken to court for the theft of the original mermaid – whose ownership was never known – and had to prove her innocence by proving that the new statue had been cast after the original disappeared.
A severe storm in June 2007 damaged the Travemünde mermaid, but it was repaired and reseated in a “safer” location. This lasted until June 16th, 2008, when the mermaid was destroyed by a drunk driver colliding with the mermaid while driving on the beach with his SUV at night.
Thus ended the sage of the mermaid in Boltenhagen and Travemünde.
References:
http://www.ostsee.de/boltenhagen/meerjungfrau.html
http://mermaidmania.de/welt/boltenhagen.php
http://mermaidmania.de/welt/travemuende.php
http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,2144,1893793,00.html
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