A cookie story for Kaska's snap shots blog's first B-Day!

I was wandering what story to give to my blog for its first birthday. The current Hannover reality just came across and offered the most perfect incident.

So here it is, the company Bahlsen. They produce cookies. You might know them.

The company's old headquarters from 1911 is a pearl of Jugendstil architecture, it is situated in the List, a very central and densely populated district of Hanover.

Bahlsen building fills the right half of the picture. The facade faces the Podbielski street which is one of the main roads of the city, starting at Lister Platz, heading North East to the highway ring surrounding Hanover.

What you can see on the upper picture in the height of the first storey is the green construction for the trademark of Bahlsen - the golden cookie carried by two Brezelmänner - the so called pretzel men. Below, in detail:

The plate is a very decorative element of architecture with a certain value for art historians. And for Bahlsen their most known product and a company symbol: the Leibniz cookie. Yes, indeed: this Keks, as they call a cookie in German, has been named after the most famous citizen of Hanover, the man of the Enlightment, Mr. Leibniz.

Take one last look at the cookie from another direction.

On Friday, January 25th the local press informed that Bahlsen misses their cookie. Bahlsen only realized that the cookie is missing on Monday, January 21st after an employee observed the gap between the pretzel men. Firstly, the company checked their own communication chain to make sure that no one has sent the cookie to conservation.

On Friday, they made it public: the cookie had been stolen. Police started the investigation and soon it was clear that the cookie got away at least a week before the discovery.

For every one who knows the spot it was obvious, only during a day could some one had stolen the cookie. Any one working with professional equipment in the night at this height, at this highly frequented street and in this densely populated district would be raising too much attention. 

Just after the message of the missing cookie made its rounds across Hanover, on Tuesday, some breaking news came through the local press. A blackmail letter reached Bahlsen and Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung. On the picture attached... the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street. Holding the golden cookie. Demanding as a ransom cookies for children hospital (full cream milk and with chocolate crumbs) and the 1000€ reward that Bahlsen originally announced for finding the cookie as a donation to the local animal shelter. 

Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, January 30th, 2013

Life is strange. Bahlsen got the best marketing ever, they wouldn't be able to get more attention for no money on Earth. Yet, they are still saying, it is no marketing campaign. The company offered today, according to the press, to donate 52.000 cookie boxes for charity in case the golden cookie will be given back to Bahlsen. The Cookie Monster, the original, responded already on Twitter, saying he is innocent and would offer his help to find the cookie thief. Facebook is full of references too. The German Museum of Cinema in Berlin posted their own Cookie Monster ensuring, they have an eye on him and he hasn't ever gotten out.

Cookie Monster posted on facebook by the German Museum of Cinema in Berlin, January 31st, 2013

Hannoversche Allgemeine on January 31st, dedicates a whole page to the story, mentioning the many Facebook activities around the Cookie Monster Gate "Krümmelgate" and reporting that the story of the Hanover cookie appeared in US American and Russian media.

And here a Polish internet site reporting the story:
http://tvp.info/informacje/rozmaitosci/ciasteczkowy-potwor-kradnie-w-niemczech/9939477

Happy Birthday to you, Kaska's snap shots!

Thank you, dear visitors of this blog, for sticking with me!

Thank you Cookie Monster for the great story!