Two German artists have claimed responsibility for the white flags planted on the Brooklyn Bridge last month — offering compelling video evidence that even the NYPD thinks is legit.
Mischa Leinkauf, 37, and Matthias Wermke, 35, of Berlin, said they simply wanted to “show the beauty of public space” — not humiliate the Police Department or fuel terrorism fears.
“This was not an anti-American statement,” Wermke, who has created public-art installations featuring flags in the past, told The New York Times.
“From our Berlin background, we were a little surprised that it got the reaction it did. We really didn’t intend to embarrass the police.”
The pair — now back in Germany — said they wanted to pay homage to famed German-born engineer John Roebling, who designed the bridge, by planting the flags on July 22, the anniversary of this death in 1869.
“We saw the bridge, which was designed by a German trained in Berlin who came to America because it was the place to fulfill his dreams, as the most beautiful expression of a great public space … That beauty was what we were trying to capture,” Leinkauf told the paper.
The daring duo released video footage of a white flag flapping on what seems to be the bridge’s 276-foot towers with the New York City skyline in the distance.
The pair also offered up details about the stitching and weaving on the flags — including claims they had hand-sewn them with two kinds of white fabric and cut holes for the stars.
Those details made one law-enforcement source tell The Post: “This looks pretty legit . . . It’s a very credible lead.”
Still, “I can’t say with 100 percent certainty these two guys did it … [Cops] need more evidence to bring them back to the states.”
Either way, the daring intruders — who slipped past the NYPD’s anti-terror forces to swap the bridge’s American flags for white ones — were likely more than a two-man team, the-law-enforcement source added.
The artists left New York on July 24 — two days after the flag stunt, law-enforcement sources said. It’s unclear if they’ll be forced to return to United States to face charges.
“The NYPD is aware of the public statements made by the German artists . . . in regard to the Brooklyn Bridge flag case. The investigation is continuing,” an NYPD spokesman said.
Leinkauf and Wermke said they were inspired by Gordon Matta-Clark, who famously climbed the Clocktower Building in lower Manhattan in 1974.
Additional reporting by Dana Sauchelli
