He was kidnapped on 3 November 1976 and held for a DM 5,000,000 ransom. He was discovered by a lorry driver, chained up in service room in a pillar of a 52 meter high road bridge, the
Ambachtalbrücke near
Herborn over the A45, after the ransom was paid by his father. A considerable amount of the ransom was eventually recovered. ==Westphalian Horse Museum==