Uhlenköper, Bronze statue near St. Marien Church in Uelzen, Germany.
Uhlenköper is a bronze statue in Uelzen showing a trading scene with two men: one holds a sack containing an owl while the other counts coins. The roughly 2.2-meter artwork stands between St. Marien Church and the old town hall, serving as a central gathering point in the city.
The bronze was funded by citizens and businesses, who donated around 37,000 DM on the initiative of councillor Peter Cordes, chairman of the Uelzen tourist association. Sculptor Karlheinz Goedtke designed it, and it was unveiled on 6 May 1967. It illustrates the Ulenköper legend: a merchant buys a sack of Baarftgaans (barefoot walkers) from a farmer, mishears it as Barkhahns (black grouse), and pays a high price.
The name Uhlenköper, "owl buyer", comes from a wordplay: a Uelzen merchant bought a sack of "Baarftgaans" (barefoot walkers) from a farmer, understood "Barkhahns" (black grouse) and paid a high price. The farmer argued that owls go barefoot, the judge laughed and ruled for him, and Uelzen residents are still called Ulenköper today.
The statue is located in central Uelzen, easy to reach while walking through the old town. The best time for photos is outside busy hours, when fewer people are gathered around the artwork.
According to local folklore, rubbing the coin in the statue while jingling money in your pocket is said to bring financial luck. This tradition is practiced by many visitors, which has polished the coin shiny over the years.
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