Police in Cologne said Wednesday that the woman, whom they identified only as Julie H., sent them a handwritten confession to her failure to pay the 50-mark fine, incurred during a visit to the city in August 1996. That translates to $47.60 in American currency at current rates.
In the letter to "dear Cologne police," mailed from Draper, Utah, Julie H. wrote in German that she had not understood local parking rules and had been annoyed at the fine.
But "now I want to pay the parking ticket," she wrote.
"I feel better now - thank you," her letter concluded.
Police said in a statement that they sent a response thanking Julie H. for the letter - and returned the check.
They said it was impossible to figure out exactly where the woman had left her rented car during her family's 1996 vacation, and she had forgotten the name of the car rental firm.
In any case, they added, the statute of limitations on the offense expired 11 years ago.
