But when she was 22, she actually found me through a Hinz&Kunzt article and got in touch with me. She burned me a CD with all the memories she had of me until she was seven: with a song by Eros Ramazzotti and the pictures from when we were in Mallorca, from the first flight and New Year’s Eve. Since then, we have been in touch regularly again. I even have a granddaughter now. She is nine and always calls me “Grandpa Elbe.

I grew up in the village, where I had a normal childhood. After school, I did an apprenticeship as a carpenter, then I went on assembly. I was happy, earned good money, and was married. But because I often traveled, my marriage fell apart at some point, and I went downhill. I didn’t feel like working anymore, had to leave the house, and from then on I spent the night in my leased car. Until I was approached by a police car. My car had been put on the wanted list. Since I wasn’t paying the leasing rates, they took it away from me. I bought a tent, two sleeping bags and went to the Elbe in Hamburg. I camped there for two years. At that time I had also started selling Hinz&Kunzt.

I still sell Hinz&Kunzt. I especially like the social interactions with my customers. They also always say that I radiate such positivity, even when it’s gray outside. But yeah, what else can I do? It can only go up from here. And I’m doing great right now. Splendid. Really. I have a dream apartment and a nature reserve right on my doorstep. I spend a lot of time walking along the Elbe and watching the deer eat. And I take care of my caravan at the Baltic Sea. I got the parking space and the car as a gift from an older man. It’s my base in the summer.