Angela Spook

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"Witch" Angela Spook on her way home with her bike (2008)

Angela Spook , actually Angelika Tampier (born March 14, 1954 in Enkhausen ; † July 20, 2020 ), became popular as the "Witch of the Kö" through her public display on Düsseldorf's Königsallee for 25 years as a living image in a witch costume. .

The Kö-Witch

With the forecourt of the Kö-Center , Angela Spook had chosen a place for her appearance as a witch since 1995 , where she was seen by the vast majority of Düsseldorf visitors. Whatever the weather, she stood there in the same place, sometimes for hours, in her pitch-black long robe with a witch's hat, broom and a raven made of cloth “and nothing could disturb her. A mystical creature that every passer-by paused briefly, smiling, pleasantly irritated, sometimes shaking her head, which was what Ms. Spook was most happy about. In such cases she would roll charmingly with her kohl-framed eyes. ”Her trademark was also her, in the end a three-wheeled bicycle, with which she came from Flingern to Königsallee. Two signs next to the rear wheel said "Angela Spook".

As a street comedian, she first appeared as a clown reciting three-minute texts. “In our fast-paced times, a much too long lecture,” said Angela Spook, “people stop for a minute, then their attention is focused on something else.” In 1994, her father gave her a long, black coat. In a hat shop in the street Am Wehrhahn she discovered the pointed hat and found a broom - “and interpreted this as a sign. »I quickly shelved my idea of ​​appearing as a clown«. She has been hired to perform in other cities, has appeared on children's birthday parties and in kindergartens. The money she earned from her performances was enough for her modest living. Sometimes she offered oil paintings she had painted herself. She received small donations for her unobtrusive presentation. She has been described as basically shy, as "an expert in true understatement". She herself described her portrayal as a "witch in the love sense" or as a " living doll ".

In 2015 she self-published the picture book for children “Biggibuggi im spring forest” under her pseudonym Angela Spook. A neighboring businesswoman recalled: "She was so proud". In 2020 it was offered as a 2nd edition, but printed to order (“ Books on Demand ”). Biggibuggi, which can transform into a beetle, could be ordered as a “reversible doll” made of fabric from her by post for € 39 on Ackerstraße, without giving a phone number or email address. In 2018 she appeared in a television broadcast in which she was born as a "freelance artist in her modest studio on the edge of the poverty line" to a woman who had already been born into a wealthy family and who has always lived in prosperity and who experiences Königsallee as a shopping paradise.

A few days after Angela Spook's death, a woman from Düsseldorf started a petition so that she would receive a statue at her regular place at the Kö-Center.

Angelika Tampier

Angela's sister next to the bike that was set up as a souvenir in August 2020 on Ackerstrasse

Angelika Tampier said of herself: “After graduating from high school, I wanted to study art, but didn't pass the exam. Then I first had a pub, made my way as a courier driver and finally cleaned at Prange ”.

She was a native of the Sauerland, woke up in Stemel , and actually came to Düsseldorf because of the art academy , which she then hadn't made it to. However, she has taken various courses with master students at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. Since December 2007 she has belonged to the newly founded artist group FlinArt, a group of 15 artists who presented their works in a summer and winter exhibition.

In 1999 she turned to Zen meditation and chose a minimalist way of life. She lived very modestly in a former carpenter's workshop in the Flingern district of Düsseldorf , in a backyard at Ackerstrasse 191, without heating and, for the first time, without her own bathroom and toilet. However, she had made herself comfortable. At the Düsseldorf event Kunstpunkte - open studios , invited guests were able to see for themselves, with “Lantern light in the courtyard, flowers in pretty pots, cookies based on their own recipe and handicrafts that had their origins in everyday objects - the visitor might not be standing in the most progressive studio in town but certainly nowhere was he received more warmly. ”There were stuffed birds hanging here and antiquarian books, including those on the subject of witchcraft, piled on the walls.

She died unobtrusively on July 20, 2020. In the year of her death, she probably no longer took her usual place, and was apparently no longer in her Flingen apartment in the end. You could tell before that she was sick, her hair was going out. The urn burial took place in the family circle in the tree grave at the cemetery in Sundern-Enkhausen .

Web links

Commons : Angela Spook  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e N. Kampe, S. Kouschkerian, U.-J. Ruhnau: The "witch of the Kö" is dead. In: Rheinische Post , July 22, 2020, p. C3.
  2. ↑ a b Jonas Meister: Mourning the "Witch of the Kö" . Remscheider General-Anzeiger , July 24, 2020. Accessed July 25, 2020.
  3. ↑ a b c Kirstin von Schlabrendorf-Engelbracht: No lazy magic: Local compass Düsseldorf meets Düsseldorf's last witch, "Angela Spook" . Lokalkurier Düsseldorf , October 27, 2016. Accessed July 25, 2020.
  4. ↑ a b Düsseldorf's last witch lives in Flingern . Shopping Düsseldorf Flingern , 2004–2006. Retrieved July 25, 2020
  5. ↑ Offer on Amazon . Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  6. ↑ The 'Kö': pomp, swank and prada - or is it all just cliché? Episode 17 . German premiere: October 22, 2018 on RTL. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  7. ↑ nika: Petition started - Düsseldorf woman wants a statue for the deceased Kö-Hexe . Rheinische Post , July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  8. ↑ After her sudden death - Düsseldorfers set a moving memorial to the Hexe von der Kö . Express, August 27, 2020, accessed August 29, 2020.
  9. ↑ jme: After death at the age of only 66 - petition demands a memorial for the witch from the Kö . Express , July 24, 2020. Accessed July 25, 2020.
  10. ↑ Jürgen Bauer: Witch from the Kö paints a mural . Rheinische Post , July 25, 2011. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  11. ↑ Obituary of Angelika Tampier "Angela Spook" . In: Rheinische Post , July 25, 2020, p. D5.
personal data
SURNAME Spook, Angela
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tampier, Angelika (real name); Witch of the Kö (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German comedian, Düsseldorf city original
DATE OF BIRTH March 14, 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Enkhausen
DATE OF DEATH 20th July 2020