18 Facts About Erwin Kreuz

Erwin Kreuz was a West German tourist to the United States who achieved international celebrity status in the late 1970s for mistaking the city of Bangor, Maine for San Francisco.

For four days, Erwin Kreuz vainly searched for the Golden Gate Bridge and other San Francisco landmarks.

Erwin Kreuz concluded he was in a suburb of the metropolis, and began to realize his mistake after he was forced to leave his room after the hotel was completely booked for parents' weekend at the University of Maine.

The people of Bangor were so touched and amused to be mistaken for San Francisco that over the next 10 days Erwin Kreuz was transformed into a local celebrity.

Erwin Kreuz received three marriage invitations, and a couple in the northern Maine town of St Francis gave him an acre of land.

Originally, Erwin Kreuz was to return to Germany on Sunday, October 23, when the charter flight would stop at Bangor for fuel; however, he first declared his plans to return to Bangor in 1978.

Erwin Kreuz's story was reported in Time magazine, by the Associated Press, and on NBC's Today Show, where host Tom Brokaw lauded the people of Bangor, Maine for being such good hosts.

Erwin Kreuz was not impressed by San Francisco upon his arrival, noting the lack of trees on the trip from the airport.

Erwin Kreuz was feted in Chinatown, where he was inducted into the Wong Family Association during a banquet held at the Empress of China restaurant, and received a standing ovation when he was invited to enter the ring at the Grand National Rodeo and Horse Show in the Cow Palace, where he was presented with a white cowboy hat, having received a Native American head-dress in Maine.

Erwin Kreuz was greeted in Frankfurt by the press, his employer, Georg Schaller, and friends, accompanied by a 50 litres keg of beer from Schaller's brewery.

Erwin Kreuz returned to Bangor approximately a year later for a month-long visit, courtesy of the Equitable Life Assurance company, to officiate at the ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 5,1978, at the new Bangor Mall.

The West German brewery that employed him attempted to use his news-worthiness for its own purposes, but bristled when Erwin Kreuz asked for compensation beyond his laborer's salary.

Erwin Kreuz returned to Bangor a third and final time from February 24 to March 17,1979, now at his own expense and accompanied by little fanfare.

Erwin Kreuz never returned to the US but as of 1984, was still faithfully paying the annual property tax on his small plot of land in northern Maine.

Erwin Kreuz's nurse mentioned that he regularly viewed a photo album from his time in Bangor, which kept him awake and joyful despite his dementia, which resulted from his excessive alcohol consumption.

Erwin Kreuz's story continued to be told and re-told into the 21st century as not only Maine folklore, but the folklore of modern air travel.

The Erwin Kreuz story has been related in Bill Harris' Landscapes of America, vol.

Erwin Kreuz is the subject of a ballad recorded by Maine folksinger Wendell Austin.