Gunther Holtorf left Bavaria in 1989 in his blue four-by-four planning to visit Africa. 26 years later he's returning home after travelling 900,000 kilometres and visiting 215 countries.
Friedrich Mülln has been dragged through the courts and threatened with murder during his years of animal rights activism. His latest court case was in Munich this week but he tells The Local he has no plans to give up the fight.
The USA’s German-born coach, Jürgen Klinsmann, squares up against his countrymen on Thursday in the football World Cup. The former German coach changed the nation's football forever and is The Local's German of the Week.
Sifting through Munich's riff-raff is no easy task - Klaus Gunschmann did it for two decades at the door of the city's most famous nightclub, P1. The empire he ran - as doorman and boss, turns 30 this year - he's our German of the Week.
For a year writer Greta Taubert turned her back on consumerism in favour of self-sufficiency. Her experiment in independent living doubled up as preparation for an apocalypse, making her The Local’s German of the Week.
Thai boxer by night, head of Porsche's supervisory board by day, Uwe Hück made the news this week by calling for shorter working hours. He is The Local's German of the Week.
Keeping the keys to Bremen´s 15th century wine cellar means becoming a part of a 600-year-old tradition. The vast collection is one of the indebted city's most valuable assets but is being targeted by a wealthy Chinese collector.
Natalie Ackermann was crowned Miss Germany seven years ago. Today she is a host on Mexican television and will shoot a movie with actor Antonio Banderas. A soap star with Hollywood ambitions, she is The Local's <b>German of the Week.</b>
Thomas Quasthoff left behind a sparkling career as a concert bass-baritone last year to pursue new projects. Now he stars in a comedy show in Berlin's West End. One of the country's most acclaimed performers, he is our German of the Week.
On Tuesday, former fencer Thomas Bach became the most powerful man in international sport after being elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). He is the first German in 119 years to hold the position making him our German of the Week.
He is known only as Volkan T. But the mystery bodybuilder is the man behind one of Germany’s more bizarre news stories this summer, making him our German of the week.
Former playboy model Mirja du Mont seriously risked breaking a nail when she agreed to travel like an asylum seeker for a controversial reality-documentary – a journey we say makes her <b>German of the Week</b>.
All eyes were on the British royals this week, while in Bavaria a direct descendant of Stuart King Charles I turned 80 in relative privacy. Yet our <b>German of the week</b> Franz Herzog von Bayern's blood runs as blue as little Prince George's.
This Friday, his latest song will be banned to minors - a move made faster than normal in an attempt to stop sales benefiting from the controversy. For good or bad, this makes rapper Bushido our <b>German of the Week</b>.
Generations of children all over the world have one German man to thank for hours of fun. Playmobil owner Horst Brandstätter reached the ripe old age of 80 on Thursday, making him our <b>German of the Week</b>.
Germany has been watching in horror as rivers break their banks, flooding towns and cities, prompting evacuation and turning farmland into bogs. Our Germans of the Week are all those who pulled on wellies to help others.
Germany is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of <b>Richard Wagner</b> on Wednesday. Probably the country's most revered and reviled composer, the man considered both a musical genius and an anti-Semite is The Local's German of the Week.
The trial of a group of young men suspected of beating to death 20-year-old Jonny K. began in Berlin this week. His older sister's tireless campaigning for a safer capital in the wake of his death makes her our German of the Week.
Women with facial hair used to be relegated to carnival sideshows, but one bearded lady is fighting for her right to remain unshaven. Mariam is The Local's German of the Week.
Veteran journalist Jörg Armbruster was recently shot and seriously wounded while reporting on Syria's civil war. Now on the mend and hoping to return to the Middle East, the ARD correspondent is The Local's German of the Week.
Fritz Wagner has shot to internet fame after making a video of himself singing a funny song about his favourite dumplings. With over 2.5 million views on YouTube and a recording contract, the teenager is The Local's German of the Week.
After being branded a "slut" by the host of Germany's answer to "Pop Idol" and outing the show's behind-the-scenes sex antics, singer Sarah Joelle Jahnel has raised enough eyebrows to be named The Local's German of the Week.
Austria Unchained? The Alpine nation is proudly independent, but that's not stopping Germany from claiming a two-time Oscar winner as one of its own. And that is enough to make the actor Christoph Waltz The Local's German of the Week.
The man who transformed shopping in Germany died this week aged 89 and worth nearly €3 billion. Otto Beisheim, founder of Metro Group, home of names such as Real and Saturn, is The Local's German of the week.
