Burkhard Horstmann

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Burkhard Horstmann (born August 24, 1955 in Rostock ; † November 17, 2005 in Berlin ), called Ingo vom Kotti , was a well-known Berlin homeless person and a Berlin original .

Life

Horstmann grew up in a children's home in Rerik in what was then the GDR . After a failed attempt in the Federal Republic of Germany to escape, he was the early 1970s years for attempted " illegal border crossing " to a custodial sentence convicted and in Cottbus detained. In 1985 he came to West Berlin through ransom .

Horstmann worked for a demolition company for a few years , was married and lived in an apartment on Görlitzer Strasse . However, his wife's drug addiction consumed a large portion of his income, and after his employer filed for bankruptcy, they were forced to leave the home. Horstmann divorced and since then has lived as a homeless person under the subway bridge at Kottbusser Tor .

Over the years Horstmann, who was almost exclusively called Ingo vom Kotti , became a well-known figure and, as part of the Kreuzberg local color, a living attraction . As Berlin's most famous bum , he was the subject of reports in television and newspapers ; Tourist buses drove more slowly so that the occupants could take a look at the city original.

Alcoholism , accidents and life in the open air caused Horstmann's health to deteriorate rapidly in the last phase of his life. On the night of November 17, 2005, he died as the first cold death of winter in his sleeping place under the bridge and was buried on December 13 in Köpenick .

literature

personal data
SURNAME Horstmann, Burkhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ingo from Kotti
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German homeless person and Berlin city original
DATE OF BIRTH August 24, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Rostock
DATE OF DEATH November 17, 2005
Place of death Berlin