Location still secret – Mysterious treasure hunt: “Golden Owl” found after 31 years – Culture

Crazy hunt for a “bird”: For over three decades, thousands of French people desperately searched for the “Golden Owl”. Recapitulation of a treasure hunt that was more than just a game for many.

How it all started: On the night of April 23, 1993, Paul Régis Hauser, a former rally driver, communications expert and professional puzzle creator, dug a hole. He hid a bronze replica of the “Chouette d’Or”, the Golden Owl, 80 centimeters underground. He then published the book “Sur la trace de la chouette d’or” (“On the Trail of the Golden Owl”) under the pseudonym Max Valentin: a 22-page guide to treasure hunting.

The hunt for the bird was now on. The finder’s reward: a precious gold variant, stored in a bank vault. Estimated value: 150,000 euros.

A long search: Hauser actually thought the search would only take two years – slightly misjudged! The “Chouetteurs,” as the treasure hunters called themselves, searched in vain for a long time. They used metal detectors to scan fields, meadows and entire villages. In some owl seekers, the obsession with the treasure even aroused criminal energy: people dug in private properties and even blew up train tracks. One hunter was so keen on the statue that he tried to dig a hole in a bench with a pickaxe. It didn’t pay off.

The search seemed so hopeless that some even rumored that the statue didn’t even exist. A treasure hunter who was particularly poisoned even suspected fraud: Yvon Crolet, an engineer from Paris, is said to have dug almost 100 holes – but he didn’t find the owl in any of them.

A modern treasure hunt: Language games, brain teasers, cartographic puzzles, historical allusions, mathematics tasks: the book that Hauser created together with the artist and illustrator Michel Becker provided all sorts of clues for treasure hunters. But Hauser, who was a communications professional by training, used another means of communication: Minitel, a French pioneer of the Internet, a paid server.

There he provided the treasure hunters with clues – informed them that the location was at least 100 kilometers inland. And he answered messages: He is said to have answered a whopping 100,000 questions until the server was shut down in 2001. He also reportedly earned quite a bit from Minitel. The search later continued on other platforms: On Facebook, for example, owl searchers actively exchanged ideas, sharing fresh and sometimes false tracks.

The end of Hauser – but not the search: Hauser died in 2008. He did not live to see the end of the search. The coordinates of the hiding place remained in a sealed envelope with a notary: Michel Becker, co-creator of the book and creator of the owl, also saw himself as the sole owner of the valuable variant that was in the bank.

He sued for it to be returned and even wanted to auction off the noble version of the owl, i.e. the finder’s prize. A few “chouetteurs” protested, collected money, took legal action against Becker – and won. Two court decisions banned sales in 2014.

The find: On October 3rd the time has finally come: Becker, who became the game director after Hauser’s death, announced: “Don’t dig anymore! We confirm to you that the replica of the Golden Owl was found last night.” However, the treasure hunt remains mysterious until the end: As of today, we don’t yet know who found it and where.