1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Israel-Hamas warUkraineChad election

Flaming Show of Love Ends in Explosion

DW staff (dc)July 13, 2004

A besotted young German man hoping to create a unique expression of candle-lit love for his girlfriend instead incurred €50,000 in damage after it all went horribly wrong.

https://p.dw.com/p/5JQC
Next time, say it with flowersImage: AP

It was supposed to be a gesture so romantic, it would sweep his girlfriend off her feet. Instead, it sent fire sweeping through his apartment.

An 18-year-old German in the town of Werl carefully laid out tea-light candles in the form of a huge heart, with the message "I love you" in his apartment. He then photographed the burning display in order to create the perfect memento to present to his girlfriend.

But as he was printing out the photo in another room, the heat from the flaming message led to a low-speed detonation, police in nearby Soest said.

Damage from the fire, which broke out in the top floor of the young man's duplex, totalled €50,000 ($62,000). No one was hurt in the incident.

And who said Germans aren't romantic?