"Bielefeld defines nondescript". Public reception The Bielefeld conspiracy remains one of the most popular Internet jokes originating in Germany. In November 2012, German Chancellor Angela Merkel referred to the conspiracy in public when talking about a town hall meeting she had attended in Bielefeld, adding: "... if it exists at all", and "I had the impression that I was there." Official response The city council of Bielefeld made efforts to generate publicity for Bielefeld and build a nationally known public image of the city. However, even 10 years after the conspiracy started, the mayor's office still received phone calls and e-mails which claimed to doubt the existence of the city. In 1999, five years after the myth started to spread, the city council released a press statement titled (Bielefeld does exist!) on April Fools' Day. In allusion to the origin of the conspiracy, the 800th anniversary of Bielefeld was held in 2014 under the motto (That doesn't exist). In August 2019, the council offered to give 1 million euros to any person who could provide "incontrovertible evidence" of its nonexistence in an effort to increase interest in the city. As no one was able to prove Bielefeld's non-existence, the city therefore sees its existence as conclusive and the conspiracy as ended. To commemorate it, the city erected a glacial erratic block in the historic center near the Leineweber monument. A QR code on it directs to further background information. Film In 2009, film students at Bielefeld University started a project to develop a feature film based on the Bielefeld conspiracy. The project was financed by the university and local sponsors. Most of the project's staff and actors were students or university employees; a few professionals, such as the actress Julia Kahl and the cameraman Alexander Böke, also joined the project. The screenplay was written by Thomas Walden. The film premiered in Bielefeld on 2 June 2010. Similar satirical conspiracy theories Similar satirical conspiracy theories have been made about other places, such as Australia, Finland, the Italian region of Molise and the US state of Wyoming. See also Birds Aren't Real Li's field Omission of Tasmania from maps of Australia Ted Cruz–Zodiac Killer meme References Bibliography External links Conspiracy theories in Germany Internet memes introduced in the 1990s Internet humor Usenet Bielefeld Hoaxes in Germany 1994 in Germany Contemporary German history 1990s in Internet culture Culture of North Rhine-Westphalia German satire