Berlin in the center of the southeastern suburb of Kopenika stands a huge neo-Gothic town hall, at the entrance to which is a full-length statue of a mustachioed man in military uniform. There is no shortage of monuments to various famous generals and warlords in Germany, but this statue is an interesting exception: the monument was not built for a heroic soldier, but for a thief. In 1906, the so-called Captain of Kopenick carried out a daring plan and stole the city treasury, showing that Prussian respect for the army uniform bordered on stupidity.
Until 1920, the picturesque Köppenika, located at the confluence of the Spree and the Dame, was an independent city, but then it was annexed by Berlin. However, neither the beautiful old town of Kopenika, nor the small island gardens preserved from East German times, nor the luxurious castle, nor the romantic fishermen’s quarter brought the city such fame as in 1906 by the robber Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt, who strangely became a national hero after the robbery, starred in numerous books, plays and feature films.
