German company claims puzzle is world's biggest

[September 30, 2008]  RAVENSBURG, Germany (AP) -- Some 15,000 enthusiasts have assembled the world's largest jigsaw puzzle in the southern German town of Ravensburg, Europe's biggest puzzle maker said.

Puzzle maker Ravensburger AG said 1,141,800 pieces were put together in only five hours on Sunday, forming a nearly 6,500-square foot (600-square meter) puzzle that nearly covered the town square.

"We really like puzzling," Ravensburg resident Sonja Haussner said at the event.

A notary has submitted the result to the Guinness Book of World Records. The current record is a 212,323-piece puzzle measuring some 35 feet by 38 feet (10.8 meters by 11.68 meters) put together in Singapore in 2002.

A Guinness Book spokeswoman said Monday that the Ravensburg claim had been submitted but was not yet approved.

The participants assembled more-than 4,000 smaller jigsaw puzzles, each with 252 pieces and standard puzzle motifs like animals, maps and landscapes.

The rectangles were then taken to the nearby town square and put together into the single massive 65-foot by 98-foot (20-meter by 30-meter) puzzle.

"We tried and we succeeded," said Heinrich Huntelmann, a spokesman for Ravensburger AG.

Ravensburger AG is celebrating its 125th anniversary of operation in the town.

[Associated Press]

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