From the address,researchers found that the postcard was written by a man named Richard
Platz,who was 20 years old when he wrote the message. While he was hiking on the Baltic coast
with a nature appreciation group,he threw the bottle into the sea. Then the researchers began a
search for any living relatives of his. Sure enough,they were able to find his 62-year-old
granddaughter,Angela Erdmann,who still lives in Berlin.
“It was almost unbelievable,”Erdmann said upon being presented with her grandfather's
bottle and message.“That was a pretty moving moment. Tears rolled down my face."
Erdmann never knew her grandfather,who died in 1946,but says that the discovery of the
bottle has made her want to learn more about him.