Bus shelter linked to Tokio Hotel sold - one piece to Italy
Loitsche, Germany - A wooden bus shelter covered with graffiti has been cut up and sold by auction to teenage girls eager for a souvenir of the German-based pop band Tokio Hotel.
Birgit Erdmann, who managed the sale as an agent, said Monday that prices had been modest and the sale had brought practically no profit to the local authority of Loitsche, the small town in central Germany where the group's stalwarts, Bill and Tom Kaulitz, grew up.
The most distant buyer was someone in La Spezia, Italy. Tokio Hotel, which has a worldwide following, won the Best New Artist award on Sunday at the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles.
Girls tracing their idols' roots had scrawled hearts and declarations of love on the shelter, which is outside the Kaulitz brothers' former home. Some adoring girls had even slept in it before vandals wrenched the walls off in May.
Vaguely hoping for a cash windfall so it could build a new shelter, Loitsche authorities commissioned Erdmann to auction the pieces on the internet site eBay, but she said, "It was hardly worth it."
"After subtracting the fees, we only made about 100 to 150 euros (150 to 250 dollars)," she said. The 40 pieces sold for a total of 400 euros. Erdmann said she still had the shelter's back wall and a side wall, but would not accept less than 199 euros apiece. (dpa)