17. 02. 12. - 14:00

• more Germany in Focus news
• RSS Feed Germany in Focus

17. 02. 12. - 14:00

Skull And Lost Bones

Charges have been filed against three men who allegedly stole the skull of a pirate dubbed Germany's answer to Robin Hood because he stole from the wealthy merchants of the time and freely distributed the money to the poor.

Klaus Stoertebeker's skull was kept after he was beheaded and put on display in the Hamburg History Museum where it was found to be missing on 9 January 2010 - and recovered a year later after a friend of one of the three called the police.

The skull, impaled by a large rusty nail, was discovered in 1878 during construction for a warehouse district in an area where pirates used to be beheaded and their heads displayed on spikes as a warning.

Stoertebeker was the terror of the North Sea. His colourful name that he chose himself means to "empty the mug with one gulp" in Old German because he was reportedly able to drink four litres of beer from a single huge gold cup in one swig.

He set up pirate bases in numerous locations and donated money extensively to locals who helped him escape capture as his band of pirates robbed Hanseatic ships over a 20 year period.

He was eventually captured however after the merchants offered a substantial bribe to one of his crewmen who disabled the steering on his ship - allowing him to be captured in 1400.

Legend has it that he was sentenced to death by beheading but pleaded that the court free as many of his men as he could walk past after his head had been chopped off. Once the axemen had completed his work the headless corpse reportedly stood and walked past 11 men on the line of sentenced pirates. But court officials at the time were fearful of doing anything to promote the man's legend had reneged on their promise and executed the crew anyway.

The ship that was seized was reportedly found to have asked filled with gold, another filled with silver and another filled with copper which was used to create the tip of St. Catherine's church in Hamburg. His famous drinking cup with which he could down four litres of beer was stored in the town hall of Hamburg, until it was destroyed in the great fire of 1842.

The skull reported to be his was significant because no image of the famous pirate remains but the skull had been used to recreate what he looked like until it was stolen in January 2010.

Two of the men aged 37 and 50 are accused of stealing the skull insured for over 2 million Euro - and the skull was then hidden in the home of the third man.

German Herald

Chelsea Thugs Target Champs League Final
Anti-soccer thug police have warned that a hard core of violent fans are heading for Chelsea's Champions League final against Bayern Munich on Saturday - despite British police issuing more than 80 travel bans on suspected hooligans.

Old Banger
A cabbie whose gas-powered car exploded just after he'd fuelled up survived with barely a scratch when he was blown clean through the open window, say police in Schwabing, Germany.

Scared Stiff
A burglar fled an apartment in terror when he came face to face with the mummified corpse of the of a woman who'd died unnoticed five years earlier, say police.

Dirty Politics
A grandstanding politician came down to earth with a bump - when a 40 ton digger he'd insisted on driving overturned on top of him.

Ewe Brutes
Callous art students who planned to behead a helpless sheep are being investigated by prosecutors in the German capital Berlin over animal cruelty allegations.

Wedding Lift
A serial car crook found with stolen wedding presents worth more than 150,000 GBP has confessed to pinching them from cars parked outside churches and hotels.

Hot Cross Huns
Naked sauna-goers were among the two hundred guests that fled when a sauna and thermal spa resort in Fichtelburg, Germany, went up in flames causing 25 million GBP of damage.

Wedding Crasher
Boozed up Stephan Pfeifer, 20, was a real wedding crasher after wandering into a community centre attic space to find somewhere to sleep - and plunging 30 foot through the floor to land in a shower of debris in front of bride Annett Friedman in Unterfranken, Germany.

Off Their Trolley
Staff at a Kaufland supermarket in Duisberg, Germany, had to apologise to customers after thieves made off with their entire stock of 150 shopping trolleys overnight.

Piggy Back
Dad Lucas Bergmann who was burgled and his his kid's money boxes and toys stolen while the family were at a New year's Eve party has had the lot returned - complete with an apology note from the thief at Neufahrn in Bavaria, Germany.