In Dabo and in the surrounding forests (Moselle),
A light mist makes the place even more impressive. This is the rock of Dabo, a spur overlooked by a chapel. The place, nearly 700 meters high, welcomes “between 30,000 to 40,000 people” each season.
Some come to admire the panorama of the Vosges massif and the Lorraine plateau, others to pray to Saint-Léon and… some to look for treasure. The famous golden owl which was discovered during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, after thirty-one years of searching.
“Ah, I’ve had visitors ask me if I didn’t have any clues to find it! But unfortunately, I didn’t know any more than the others,” laughs Laurent, in charge of reception at the bottom of the monument. He never met Max Valentin, the creator of this great game launched in May 1993. Unlike the manager of the neighboring restaurant.
“The owls were all out! »
“He was sitting there, on the terrace,” remembers Patrick Keiffer from his room where owls are everywhere. Logically, the establishment is called La Chouette d’or! “We named it that for a wink. A lot of people were talking to us about it too, some really passionate people. We saw them with their maps, they walked a lot. They often came in a campervan or with a tent and stayed there for several days. They were walking around digging. »
This sometimes posed some problems… “Yes, there were some holes! », smiles the mayor of Dabo, Eric Weber. “Not everyone closed them, that made the ONF complain a lot [Office national des forêts] and there were calls to order. It was often in waves that the “owls” came. They were all in! »
So much so that some did not hesitate to dare to make extravagant proposals. “We were asked to lend the municipality’s backhoe loader to clear 50 to 60 centimeters. In exchange, we would have had half of the winnings,” says town hall secretary general Sophie Morel. Before remembering another, less funny moment. “Perhaps ten years ago, a person had a cardiac arrest while looking for…”
The Moselle town of 2,400 inhabitants took advantage of this tourism, without overdoing it. “There were thousands of people who came from all over France and elsewhere. It’s certain that we were takers,” explains Claude, the owner of the tobacco shop opposite the church. “It was nice at first but also a bit folkish because the researchers sometimes shot each other in the face. »
Michel Becker’s expected revelations
“Since the death of Max Valentin, the atmosphere had become a little unhealthy. There were sometimes arguments between owls,” confirms the councilor, “relieved” that the treasure hunt had ended. “Yes, it gave us additional notoriety but it was time for it to be found. Now, if it is confirmed that it is here, we will have to think about enhancing the site. »
At the neighboring tourist office, Fabrice Burgatt only asks for that. “It would be stupid not to surf on that,” he says, recalling that visitors don’t come to the area exclusively for that. “For a while, it generated real curiosity. Once, an owl even asked us to take photos at a specific GPS coordinate! But people mainly come for the hiking and the rock. »
Where many have already dug… Not at the foot of the chapel of course, but in the immediate vicinity. “Basically, they were looking between Billebaum, a place in the forest where there was a very old beech tree, and here,” continues Laurent from his hut at the foot of the monument. The man is sure, the golden owl was dug up “near the Saint-Martin terminals”, a few kilometers away.
He went there and took a picture of a hole barely covered in pink sandstone. “Go see, you have to turn left after the Zollstock restaurant which has the best pork in the Grand-Est,” laughs the sixty-year-old. On site, the opening is certainly still there but seems very shallow to have welcomed the famous owl. And it’s hard to imagine that it took thirty-one years to discover it a few meters from a bench… Mystery. The co-organizer of the game, Michel Becker, should lift it this Friday by revealing the precise location.
