Black writing on a yellow background – this is how boards in Germany indicate places. However, some place names are apparently so popular that the boards are removed and taken away. So also in the Killer community.
Killer – It seems to be a kind of trophy: For the third time this year, thieves stole the sign for the Killer community on the Swabian Alb. Mayor Gerd Schäfer is used to grief.
“The humor is at the limit,” said Schäfer on Saturday the German press agency. This time it could have been young people from neighboring villages. “It was probably a test of courage or a joke.” Four suspects were seen by drivers around 8 p.m. on Friday evening with their mopeds without lights. One of the drivers had the yellow sign tucked between his legs. The young people had piled up before he and the police were there. But the witnesses wrote down parts of the license plates.
Schäfer now wants to write in the community newspaper at the beginning of the week that the thieves can return the place-name sign without punishment by next Friday. Otherwise he has to file charges against unknown persons for theft of public property. The sign that stands at three local exits has been a coveted stolen property for many years. There is also no point in securing or anchoring it even better. “We have already tried that. That only led to the thieves taking the sign and the post with them, ”said the mayor.
The signs cost 400 to 500 euros each. But since it is a country road, the road maintenance department will take care of replacement and also cover the costs. “We can get away with it with a black eye,” says Schäfer. But it is time to consider whether the coveted signs could not be offered on the Internet.
Killer is a district of Burladingen in the Zollernalbkreis and has a good 600 inhabitants. According to the municipality, the name is derived from Kirchweiler, which was called Kilchwilari in the Alemannic dialect. Over the centuries this became Kilwilar, Killar and finally Killer.
Other place-name signs are also in great demand – for example that of the Austrian town of Fucking. Due to the hype in the social media, numerous people wanted to be photographed with the place-name sign, and the sign was stolen several times. The residents felt so disturbed that they renamed Fucking to Fugging at the beginning of the year. dpa
