Last updated: 16.01.2024, 06:00 a.m.
By: Theresa Kuchler
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At a small champagne reception in the Böbingen parish office on Friday evening, the ring was handed over: (from left) Michaela Erhard ( parish secretary ), Rosmarie Schweiger with son Christoph and husband Peter as well as finder Stephan Schröpfer. © Werner Schubert
Stefan Schröpfer has made a special find in the bottom of Lake Lugenau: a wedding ring that slipped off Peter Schweiger's finger more than 50 years ago.
Böbing – Actually, Stefan Schröpfer was only looking for scrap metal and a few coins when he walked with his probe over the bottom of Lake Lugenau a few weeks ago. The pond near Böbing has no water at the moment because there are always problems with the regulator of the drain, and the icy temperatures have frozen the muddy ground solid. So it's a good time to go out with the metal detector. As a member of the board of directors of the Weilheim Fishing Association, Schröpfer is legally allowed to do so: The association has been running the lake as a leased water for many years.
What his detector detected that day, however, went far beyond Schröpfer's expectations. From a depth of a good 30 centimetres, the man from Weilheim pulled a golden ring out of the ground. "My first one," says the 54-year-old, who discovered probing for himself just over a year ago. The piece of jewelry was muddy, but after Schröpfer had washed it off with water, it shone like new again. "Gold doesn't oxidize," explains the man from Weilheim. Only the engraving told him that the ring must be 60 years old – and that it was a wedding ring. "Rosemary. August 17, 1963," it reads.
The Lugenauer See near Böbing does not have any water at the moment. That's why Stefan Schröpfer was able to make a special find here with his metal detector. © Werner Schubert
Wedding ring probably slipped off the finger while bathing
It probably happened while bathing. Peter and Rosa Maria Schweiger from Böbing used to swim with their children in Lake Lugenau, and Peter Schweiger suspects in retrospect that his wedding ring must have slipped off his finger. The 82-year-old and his 79-year-old wife had just been married for ten years when his ring was suddenly nowhere to be found.
Hand in hand reunited are the wedding rings of Peter and Rosmarie Schweiger. © Werner Schubert
Meanwhile, the couple had their 60th wedding anniversary and Schweiger never knew where exactly he had lost the ring. "We were on the road a lot and it could have happened there as well," says the Böbinger. At some point, he stopped looking. "I never thought he'd show up again."
Lost his wedding ring, but "there was no marital crisis. I ended up marrying the woman of my dreams."
Until Michaela Erhard called him from the parish office in Böbing. Stefan Schröpfer had approached them in the hope of being able to find one of the couple. And indeed, the parish secretary quickly knew who the wedding ring had to belong to. "The Schweigers celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary last year," says Erhard. She couldn't help but think of the couple when she heard the date and name of the engraving. The fact that she was right in her assumption and that the wedding ring is now finding its way back to its owner after more than 50 years is of course very pleasing to the Böbinger. "Something like that hardly ever happens."
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Many thanks to the finder with a wedding picture of the Schweigers from 1963. © Werner Schubert
Of course, the Schweigers are particularly happy. "When I heard that the ring had been found, I thought, 'There's no such thing!'" says Peter Schweiger. "I never expected that." Luckily, he hasn't really lost his wedding ring in all these years. "I've actually never worn it," admits the senior. This was not possible simply because of his work at BHS Peißenberg. And his wife Rosmarie wasn't angry about the fact that he didn't wear a ring on his finger for decades. "There was no marital crisis," says the 82-year-old with a laugh. "I ended up marrying the woman of my dreams."