The water pump is a common problem on these cars, mine bit the dust as well (OP here). That's thanks to the Germans thinking plastic propellers are a good idea.
How someone could fail to diagnose the failure to the point of burning a gasket is beyond me though. My pump died while pushing the car hard, I saw the temperature suddenly rise to the red band, stopped it on a gas station, let it cool down and took it to the mechanic the next day. No damaged gaskets