A political action

Popular mouse statue ‘kidnapped’ in Cologne

The disappearance of the mouse figure - a popular photo motif, especially among young children - was noticed in Cologne on Tuesday.

(Bild: KölnTourismus, Jesse von Laufenberg)

The Mouse is not only a childhood companion, it also delights countless fans among adults. Now her statue has been "kidnapped" in Cologne. WDR does not find this "funny" - there is a political campaign behind it.

It's a criminal case in a class of its own: "If the whole thing is supposed to be a joke, we hope for a good punch line," said WDR program director Jörg Schönborn angrily on Tuesday. "But seriously: the mouse belongs to our audience and it's not okay to kidnap it - no matter what you want to do with it."

"Don't worry about it"
The WDR broadcaster therefore called on the unknown "kidnappers" to return the statue immediately. Instead of the popular statue, only a sign was left behind: "I have something important to do ... Don't worry ... I'll be back safe and sound in a few days," was written on it. 

(Bild: Instagram/Die Reise mit der Maus)

And a deliberate trail was also left in front of Cologne's Vierscheibenhaus. The sign refers to an Instagram channel. There you can see a video of the mouse statue standing in a vineyard. The mouse was worried about its friends at public television, it said. Because they are under threat, according to the still unknown senders.

However, this does not go down well with the broadcaster: The mouse should not be used for political campaigns, the public broadcaster warned.

Figure reappeared 150 kilometers away
On Wednesday, the all-clear was given: the campaign organization Campact was responsible for the removal of the mini-monument from "Die Sendung mit der Maus". One day after its disappearance, it presented the well-known WDR children's star around 150 kilometers away from its original location in Cologne city center - in Mainz.

 "The mouse will be stopping off in several German cities as part of its trip to send out a signal against the drastic cuts to the information and education services offered by public broadcasters (ÖRR)," said Astrid Deilmann, Managing Director of the organization, explaining the secret campaign. Mainz is the first stop. The plan is for Germany's most famous rodent to return to its home at WDR at the end of the week, according to Campact.

What is behind it?
The background to the campaign is the debate about the future structure of public broadcasting. At a conference in Leipzig at the end of October, the state premiers want to discuss broadcasting reform and also address funding issues. Among other things, the federal states disagree on the question of whether the broadcasting fee should increase from January 1, 2025. There are signals that the resources of the smaller broadcasters could be bundled into fewer offerings.

This is not the first time the statue has disappeared
The statue was erected in March 2021 as part of the 50th anniversary of "Sendung mit der Maus". The statue had already disappeared once before at the end of June 2023. At that time, however, the figure was removed for repair work due to numerous scratches on the orange paint.