Flaschenpost Found!

Y’all have helped me solve some incredible mysteries. Like the 46 year old note from “Donkeyman” Jimmy Robertson, and the 7 year old message in a bottle from Sabine of Dusseldorf, Germany. Couldn’t have solved those without your help! Well, I need your help again. We’re gonna solve a “cold case” this time–a message in a bottle found by Stefanie Padilla on Hermosa Beach, CA,  in 2013. In fact, she found EIGHT messages inside one bottle, all from German-speaking folks. In German, a message in a bottle is called a “Flaschenpost,” which just means “bottle mail”. Isn’t that great?

Believe it or not, Stefanie discovered the Flaschenpost as it floated to shore! Can you believe it? Here’s the bottle, on it’s way in:

As you can see the messages were sent in a plastic bottle, so it’s really lucky Stefanie found  it. I say “lucky” because plastic bottles don’t last very long in the ocean before they break down and their bits can be mistaken for food by sea critters. And, of course, that would mean the messages would be lost! So thanks to Stefanie for picking it up. Plus, it’s a reminder to the rest of us to pick up a few pieces of plastic trash next time we’re beachcombing 🙂

Text of the Messages in the Bottle

I first shared Stefanie’s quest for her Flaschenpost senders back when she found it. But we couldn’t find the senders. And there are lots of senders! After all, this bottle contained 8 notes! Translations are a combination of my work, Stefanie’s (and her friends), and Peter Stein’s.

Translation: “Our Wishes: Dear Ines, Dear Ruediger, We wish time for you guys, above all other things. Time which you can use for all your ideas and projects in good cooperation and with best health. Time to experience things which you like to rememeber later – with your family, friends and such people which are close to you. Therefore we wish you always good relations to people who accompany you and back you in good and bad times.

Cordial the …Taterbachs(???not readable)”                                                                                [Translation from reader Goetz]

Translation: “For you: I wish good health above all else, and perhaps more grandkids. For us: I wish for a long friendship and a beautiful / happy time. For me: I don’t wish for anything special–maybe a bit more free time.”

Translation: “Our Wishes: First, look after yourself, and enjoy holidays and sunshine. Water the flowers and yourself! May health, fortune, and sunshine always accompany you and us. R. and Lo. Lenz.” Photo is from Easy Reader News.

Translation: For you and us, we wish good health, many happy days like today which you can spend with your friends, and humor in all of life’s circumstances. And think about where we are going to build our nursing home when we are old.

Translation: This one is an “acrostic”. So, it spells GEBURTSTAG down the left hand side, which is the German word for “Birthday”. Then, each letter begins a word or sentence. It reads: “Health, Grandchildren, Winning at Bingo, Vacation, Relaxation / calm, Your dreams to come true, Beautiful experiences, TV, Lovely hours with good friends, and luck. From Jens and Silke.”

Translation: “Our Wishes: A long and satisfied life, with enough money for all replacement parts! Laughing, laughing, laughing…”

Translation: “I wish you guys 60 more years of love and fulfillment. Your son Jirko.”

Translation: “Our Wishes: Luck and health, enough pocket change / spending money, no radioactive accidents, and a good Westbild.” (not sure what “Westbild” means…)

Help Solve This Flaschenpost!

I am inspired by all the wishes of health and happiness in this Flaschenpost. Time after time, messages in bottles bring out the goodwill in people. Somehow, they allow us to share our most heartfelt wishes for one another. That’s a big part of what drives me to try to hard to connect message in a bottle senders and finders.

In this case, since all the notes are in German, it’s pretty likely that the folks who sent them are from Germany / Switzerland / Austria, the main German-speaking countries. They could also be from Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, or Belgium.

What you can do to help: Share this post via Facebook and Twitter! It doesn’t matter if you don’t know many European people yourself, because your friends might! It will really help to share this among German, Swiss, and Austrian friends, of course.

All we have to go on are names: Jens & Silke, R. & Lo. Lenz, and Jirko. One note is addressed to Ines & Ruediger.

Let’s find them!

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