print $footer; is missing in page.tpl.php

I was wondering, that no blocks in the footer are displayed. So I look into the page.tpl.php. It seems that the Footer is not printed here:

This is the original footer div:

  <div id="footer">
  <?php print $footer_message;?><br/>
    <a href="http://www.rockettheme.com/Templates/Free_Templates/Novus_-_Free_Joomla_Template/">Theme</a> <a href="http://www.avioso.com">port</a> sponsored by Duplika <a href="http://www.duplika.com">Web Hosting</a>.
  <?php print $closure ?>
  </div>

Insert the "print" command in the second line:

  <div id="footer">
  <?php print $footer; ?>
  <?php print $footer_message;?><br/>
    <a href="http://www.rockettheme.com/Templates/Free_Templates/Novus_-_Free_Joomla_Template/">Theme</a> <a href="http://www.avioso.com">port</a> sponsored by Duplika <a href="http://www.duplika.com">Web Hosting</a>.
  <?php print $closure ?>
  </div>

Ciao,
Mike