Rudolph Moshammer
| Rudolph Moshammer | |
|---|---|
 Rudolph Moshammer with Daisy |
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| Born | 27 September 1940 Munich, Germany |
| Died | 14 January 2005 (aged 64) |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation | Fashion designer |
Rudolph Moshammer (27 September 1940 – 14 January 2005) was a German fashion designer. He was murdered at the age of 64[1] in the Grünwald neighborhood of Munich, Germany.
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[edit] Life
Born in Munich, Germany, Moshammer had an education in retail industry trading. He began to design fashion in the 1960s.
His base of existence was his boutique "Carnaval de Venise" in Munich's high society street, Maximilianstraße. There he created fashion for wealthy men from furs, cashmere, and silk. With this strategy he attracted the high society of Munich and Germany. His international clients included:
- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Johannes, 11th Prince of Thurn and Taxis
- Actor Richard Chamberlain
- King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
- Star tenor José Carreras
- Magicians Siegfried and Roy
- German media personality Thomas Gottschalk.
He had inherited the boutique from his mother, Else Moshammer. He had a strong relationship with her and frequently appeared in public with her. She died in 1993.
Moshammer was an eccentric and iridescent personality. He was well-known for carrying his Yorkshire Terrier dog Daisy in public wherever he went, and even wrote a book about her.
Moshammer had a strong commitment to helping homeless people. For this he was awarded the "Martin's Coat 2000" of the radio station, "Sankt Michaelsbund".
Moshammer played in some made-for-TV movies like in the German crime series Tatort.
He had a musical band, "Münchner Zwietracht" ("Munich Dissension"),[2] with whom he was a contestant in the German Eurovision Song Contest preliminary round show in 2001. The song was entitled "Share Fun and Joy".
In 2002, Moshammer sold a shirt thought to have been worn by Napoleon I at the Battle of Waterloo at auction for more than 62,000 euros ($81,200), donating the proceeds to a Munich homeless charity[3].
[edit] Death
On the morning of January 14, 2005, at 9 AM, his personal driver found him dead in his mansion in Grünwald, a suburb south of Munich. According to first reports of the public prosecutors, Moshammer had been strangled with a black telephone cable. The cable was found near the dead body. Daisy was found unharmed in the living room of his mansion.
The Munich police gave a press conference at noon on Sunday, January 16, reporting that a 25 year-old Iraqi asylum seeker Herisch Ali Abdullah, who had been tracked down through a DNA database, had admitted murdering Moshammer. It has been alleged that Moshammer had refused to pay 2000 euros to the man, who was in financial difficulties, in return for sexual favors.
[edit] His legacy
Moshammer was one of Germany's most successful fashion designers after Karl Lagerfeld, Jil Sander and Wolfgang Joop. Furthermore, he committed his wealth to helping homeless people. He had recently begun to build a house for the homeless in Munich.
[edit] Books (in German)
- Moshammer, Rudolph: Nicht nur Kleider machen Leute (It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds) (1993), ISBN 3-7962-0096-6
- Moshammer, Rudolph: Mama und ich (Mum and I) (1995), ISBN 3-8004-1324-8
- Moshammer, Rudolph: Elegant kochen ohne Schnickschnack. Zurück zum Wesentlichen (1997), ISBN 3-87287-440-3
- Moshammer, Rudolph: Ich, Daisy. Bekenntnisse einer Hundedame (I, Daisy. Confessions of a Lady Dog)(1998), ISBN 3-8004-1379-5
- Moshammer, Rudolph: Mein Christkindlbuch (2000), ISBN 3-7766-2194-X
- Moshammer, Rudolph: Mein geliebtes München (My Beloved Munich) (2002), ISBN 3-7766-2272-5
[edit] References
- ^ "German design guru 'was murdered'". BBC News. 14 January 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4175589.stm.
- ^ "Müchner Zwietracht homepage". http://www.muenchnerzwietracht.de. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
- ^ "Dog gets German designer's house". BBC. 2005-01-21. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4196633.stm. Retrieved 2011-02-09.
