MAINZ, Germany -- Call it a stimulating study-abroad experience. An American exchange student sparked an "extraordinary rescue mission" when his leg became trapped inside a giant vagina sculpture. "It was a dare," fire department squad leader Markus Mozer told NBC News. "The young man had tried to pose for an unusual photo and climbed into the artwork."

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A total of 22 rescue workers with special equipment were deployed to the scene in the southern Germany city of Tuebingen on Friday to free the 20-year-old but a “forceps delivery was not necessary," local newspaper Schwaebisches Tagblatt noted. "We were able to pull the victim out with our bare hands after about 30 minutes," Mozer added. The six-foot replica of female genitalia was installed 13 years ago outside the microbiology and virology department of the city’s university clinic. It is worth nearly $200,000.

The fire department in the southern German university city of Tuebingen extracted a 20-year old American exchange student after he got trapped inside a giant vagina sculpture. Tuebingen Fire Department

- Andy Eckardt