A gallery owner in Germany recently lost a teddy bear that had been his companion for 30 years in Berlin. It was the last gift from his mother before she passed away. To retrieve this irreplaceable lucky charm, he offered a reward of 1000 euros and initiated a search campaign through social media and multilingual flyers throughout the city.
The initiator of this bear-hunting campaign is Marcus Erlenbauer, the owner of a gallery in Bielefeld. He stated that the teddy bear named “Mini” wore a yellow jumpsuit, was only about 12 centimeters tall, and had been a constant companion in his travels and work plans, serving as an emotional bond between him and his mother.
“This was the last gift my mother gave me before she passed away, and it holds extraordinary significance for me,” Marcus Erlenbauer said. He emphasized that while lost credit cards and documents can be replaced, this teddy bear is irreplaceable. He added, “When you lose an item that carries emotions, your whole life can become imbalanced.”
The loss occurred on June 3 when he and his partner were meeting with actor friends at Einstein Cafe on the iconic street Unter den Linden in Berlin. They briefly left the valuable item unattended at their seat, which was suspected to have been stolen.
In his efforts to find “Mini,” Marcus Erlenbauer created reward posters and flyers in German, English, Polish, Romanian, and Bulgarian, posting them with slogans around the city and sharing them on social media platforms. The flyers stated that a 1000 euros reward (approximately 35,000 TWD) would be given to anyone who could return the teddy bear intact.
In Berlin, if important items are lost, people can try various means to recover them, such as inquiring at nearby businesses near the location of the lost item or seeking assistance from the police. The Berlin city government also has an official lost and found office managed by municipal service agencies, which handles items turned in from different districts and police stations in the city.
Citizens can enter the date, location, and characteristics of the lost item online through the Berlin city government website to check if anyone has submitted the related item. If there is a potentially matching registration record, they can bring their identification to the lost and found center to confirm and retrieve it. Lost items are kept by the lost and found office for 6 months for the owners to claim.
According to official statistics, Berlin receives approximately 100,000 reports of lost items each year, with about 25,000 items, which equals to 1/4, successfully being recovered. The lost items vary from keys, phones, wallets to wheelchairs, and stuffed animals, covering a wide range of objects.
“Mini” has not yet appeared in the official system, and Marcus Erlenbauer continues to raise awareness through street rewards and social media searches, hoping that this teddy bear carrying memories of its owner will safely return home.