Inside every bottle was a postcard promising a “one shilling reward” to anybody who returned it to the affiliation, together with details about the place and once they discovered the bottle. However, Horst did not want to destroy the possibly valuable bottle, so he did everything he could to get the postal card out without breaking the container. The two have stated that the only visible message was an invitation for the finder to break the glass and read the letter.
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According to the association’s communications director, Guy Baker, most of the bottles were found within months after they were released.
Tossed into the North Sea sometime between 1904 and 1906, the bottle washed up on the beach on the German island of Amrum, and was found by a couple in April.
A spokesperson for the association said on Friday they become very excited upon the news, as they were not expecting any more of the postcards to be found.
Marianne Winkler, a retired postal worker, was on holiday when she spotted the unusual bottle floating by the German island of Amrum.
Marianne and Horst were very surprised when they first saw the ancient bottle on the coast of the North Sea.
Marine Biological Association has submitted the message in the bottle to be recognized as the world’s oldest by the Guinness Book of World Records.
Realizing they may have found something that would still interest the Marine Biological Association, Marianne placed the old postcard inside an envelope and mailed it to the stipulated address.
According to the association, the bottle was one of some 1,000 released as part of marine research.
A message in a bottle launched in the North Sea 108 years ago has been discovered on a beach in Germany and returned to Plymouth. Some weeks ago, some other researchers have found a site similar to Stonehenge, revealing secrets about the ways our ancestors used to live. The current record belongs to a bottle found in 1913, which floated for 99 years and 43 days at sea.
Due to the contribution he brought to the marine community, Bidder was named the president of the association in the period between 1939 and 1945.
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True to their word, the association sent a shilling to the couple as the promised payment.
