By Liana Jacob
THIS WOMAN has been in a long-distance relationship for SIX YEARS with a PLANE – and after finally MEETING IN PERSON she’s PLANNING A WEDDING.
Saleswoman, Michele Kobke (30) from Berlin, Germany, first met the love of her life, a 737-800 Boeing plane she calls ‘Schatz’ which means ‘darling’ in German, in March 2014 while she was in Berlin Tegel airport.
She was first attracted to its wings, winglets and thrusters and after six years of only being able to ‘meet’ it through the glass window of the airport, in September 2019, she has finally been able to kiss it and even stand on one of its wings in the hangar, a large building for housing aircraft.
She hopes to one day move to be with her plane and to get married to it. Unlike a traditional wedding of a white dress and veil, Michele imagines wearing black trousers and a black blazer on her big day. They have planned to meet again in the hangar in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on March 18, 2020.
While her friends and family have accepted her relationship, her family are not interested in meeting Schatz and she wants her wedding to be an intimate affair.
“The time in the hangar was the most beautiful moment of my life and when I was with him, we enjoyed our time together, we kissed and I caressed him,” Michele said.
“The hangar is home for Schatz and me; we can enjoy our time together undisturbed there. I plan to move into the hangar one day and my biggest dream is to be with Schatz and to live with him.
“I also want to marry him in the hangar and spend the whole night with him. I wouldn’t want to put on a white dress, but dress really smartly with black trousers and a black blazer.
“I want to have someone to marry us and say, ‘do you want to marry your 737-800’ and I say, ‘yes’, we kiss and then I’m immortalised with him and we can be together forever.”
Michele has met him twice so far in 2019 and when she is not with him, she owns components of the plane as a way to stay connected to Schatz while they are apart, such as the spoiler, flap track fairing and tank valve.
This type of love affair is called objectophilia, where a person is attracted to an inanimate object as opposed to another person. People with this preference may have strong feelings of attraction, love and commitment to certain items or structures of their fixation.
Some object sexual individuals also often believe in animism and a sense of reciprocation based on the belief that objects have souls, intelligence and feelings and are able to communicate.
“Since I’m in a long-distance relationship; it is a disadvantage as I can only get to him when I fly with him. My family has reacted quite pleasantly and accepted my relationship with my 737-800,” she said.
“I will meet him on March 18, 2020. Next time in Amsterdam and in the hangar. My friends and family have accepted it and partly support me, but there is no interest in meeting him.
“I sleep with my darling every night, either with real components like the spoiler, flap track fairing and tank valve or five-foot-two model; intimacy is part of our relationship.”
