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 Where Wild Forest Pugs Lounge With Pleasure - Brandenburg, Germany
N 52° 24.835 E 012° 33.224
33U E 333629 N 5809891
Comedian Loriot did a show about a fictional animal and in his hometown, the creature became a reality
Waymark Code: WM10W6T
Location: Brandenburg, Germany
Date Posted: 06/30/2019
Views: 4
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In 1972, German comedian and cartoonist Loriot created a comedy TV "documentary" on the Wild Forest Pug, a tiny pug dog with small antlers, a "fierce hunter living almost undetected in Northern European forests."
Click here for Loriot's comedic "documentary" (in German) on Youtub.
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Planned as nothing more than a good laugh, the creature soon became folklore, similar to the North American Jackalope. And it became a favorite among Loriot's many fans.
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Loriot died in 2011, and shortly after his passing, his hometown Brandenburg called for bids for an appropriate Loriot-memorial. Since Loriot's creations are easier recognized than the artist himself, the city decited on two unusual memorials. One consist of a number of Benches featuring Loriot's famous bulbous-nosed cartoon characters, the other one is the "Wild Pug Habitat" created by interior design student Clara Walter (picture right). |
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The "Wild Pug Habitat" opened in April 2015 with eight bronze pug statues scattered across town. an article titled Wo sich wilde Waldmöpse genüsslich räkeln dürfen (Where Wild forest Pugs Lounge With Pleasure) was published in "Die Welt", Germany's fifth largest newspaper, on April 19, 2015.
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The article (in German language) starts with a paragraph about Loriot, followed by a few paragraphs about the Wild Forest. It then moves on to the involvement of the then German secretary of State (Aussenminister) Steinmeier, who became German President in 2017, is a Brandenburg resident and serves as director of the town's cultural committee. In this position, he initiated the idea of building a monument to Loriot.
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The article then quotes parts of Steinmeier's speech at the opening of the monument. Taking a page from Loriot's playbook, the Secretary of State became a true comedian, calling the opening of the world's only habitat for wild forest pugs a zoological breakthrough.
As of today, there has been a total of 14 bronze pugs released into the
wild habitat of Brandenburg. On our photo safari. we took pictures of some of them (see below).
As location for the waymark coordinates, we took the fountain at the Old Town Hall (picture right). |
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Type of publication: Newspaper
When was the article reported?: 04/19/2015
Publication: Die Welt
Article Url: [Web Link]
Is Registration Required?: no
How widespread was the article reported?: national
News Category: Arts/Culture
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