Ernst Wilhelm Wittig

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Ernst Wilhelm Wittig (* 1947 in Bielefeld ), known as Ernie , is a German exhibitionist and runabout . He gained national notoriety with high-profile appearances, but was also convicted of criminal law several times.

Nude appearances

In his hometown of Bielefeld and the surrounding area in particular , Wittig has repeatedly cycled unclothed on public roads since the 1980s. At times he also acted publicly as an unclothed bodybuilder . During his exhibitionistic appearances, a baseball cap - his trademark - is usually the only textile on his body.

He first attracted national attention in 1997, when his streaking performance led to an interruption in the Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Mönchengladbach and Arminia Bielefeld . In the same year he gained nationwide attention through his appearance at the World Congress of Sociologists in Cologne and has since appeared in numerous other German cities, which has enabled him to make numerous appearances in talk shows and TV reports to this day.

Wittig had the biggest crowd in April 2005 when he stepped naked on the pitch in front of 76,500 spectators in Dortmund's Westfalenstadion at the Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Arminia Bielefeld and posed in bodybuilder fashion on the center circle before he was led away by stewards.

In the following years, too, Wittig occasionally appeared naked - for example in lecture halls and canteens, at school yards and school parties.

Legal consequences

Wittig, who has declared his body to be a work of art , does not always meet the understanding of the authorities and the public with his performance. Wittig had to learn different views about his artist existence in courts: He had already been fined several times in the past for causing public nuisance . In the meantime, he was acquitted in 2003 by the Bielefeld District Court because, in the opinion of this court, his behavior was not shameful for the population, but the Dortmund District Court sentenced him on May 4, 2006 for the April 2005 incident in Dortmund's Westfalenstadion for trespassing to a prison sentence of six months without parole. However, this judgment did not become final, as the criminal proceedings were discontinued in the appeal court.

From February 2007 Wittig was serving a five-month prison sentence in a Bielefeld penal institution.

On July 1, 2009, he was sentenced for the last time to eleven months on probation because he let his pants down during the verdict in a previous trial and exposed his genitals to the judge. The prison sentence was only suspended on probation because "Ernie" vowed to get better and promised not to show himself in public in a way that hurts shame.

On April 3, 2018, he was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment by the Hamburg-Altona district court .

Ernie in the media

After Wittig had gained national fame, the figure of the "streaker Ernie" or allusions to it found its way into various German media.

For example, the PC game Anstoss 2005 - Der Fußballmanager includes a game event in which a speedster named Ernie runs across the virtual field, causing a game delay.

The Flitzer actor in the video for Oliver Pocher's World Cup song Schwarz und Weiß also seems to be an allusion to Wittig, who always wears his typical cap when appearing without clothes.

In addition, Wittig, with a picture of his appearance in the Westfalenstadion, is the main motif of a nationwide advertising campaign for the fan logo of the specialist magazine Werben & Sell during the 2006 World Cup , designed by the Munich agency Serviceplan .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Flitzer has to be behind bars for 15 months on nrz.de from June 18, 2008
  2. ↑ Ernie pulls blank in front of schoolgirls: Bielefeld's most famous speedster condemns Neue Westfälische April 6, 2018
  3. ↑ Flitzer became winner , article in Werben & Sell No. 23/2006, p. 43 (PDF file - 4.9 MB)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wittig, Ernst Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ernie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German exhibitionist
DATE OF BIRTH 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Bielefeld