Woman in relationship with Boeing 737 for nine years has broken up with plane but 'still friends'
Michele Köbke, 36, has ended her nine-year relationship with a Boeing 737-800 despite once describing the plane as the 'love of her life', and has now found a new obsession
A woman who was in a relationship with a Boeing 737 for nine years has dumped the aeroplane - but says they are "still friends".
Michele Köbke, 36, began seeing the 40-tonne aircraft back in 2014 after first locking eyes on the aircraft through the window at Berlin's Tegel airport, and once described it as the "love of her life". The German warehouse worker claimed to be sexually attracted to the Boeing 737-800, which she affectionately called 'Darling', and said she admired its wings, winglets and thrusters.
But now, after almost a decade in a long-distance relationship, Michele says she has ended her bizarre love affair with the plane.
She told the German newspaper Bild "we are separated", adding: "But we're still friends". Michele had previously explained that she was an objectophile, a person who is attracted to an inanimate object. Individuals with this unusual sexual preference may have strong feelings of attraction, love and commitment to certain items or structures that are the subject their fixation. While it is regarded by psychologists as a paraphilia (a sexual disorder), in most cases objectophiles do not require treatment.
After six years of only being able to 'meet' the aircraft through the glass window of the Berlin airport, in September 2019 she was finally able to get up close to it in a hangar for the first time - and was seen kissing it and even standing on one of its wings. She said of her experience at the time: "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. The hangar is home for my darling 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 my darling and to live with him."
Michele purchased multiple components from the plane including the spoiler, flap track fairing and tank valve so she could spend time with the plane while apart, and also owned a five-foot-two model, which she used to go to bed with. They were among the hundreds of aircraft souvenirs she owned. But now she has sold 300 of them to make space for objects relating to her brand new passion - the Middle Ages. She revealed: "I now love wearing knight’s armour."