In the course of the legal procedure it became clear why so many of our colleagues all over Europe had so feverishly searched for heirs: The "Wolverhampton Ring Road Tramp" was some kind of local hero. Born in Poland, he fought for the German Armed Forces in Africa before emigrating to Great Britain. After a couple of years of work he could no longer stand the narrowness of his flat and built up a tent on a ring road where he spent the rest of his life.
At the outset the local city council banned the tramp from living on the streets, but soon had to give in to protests from local citizens who viewed the legator as some kind of "higher being" who did not accord earthly goods any importance. Over the years he became a celebrity and fans all over the world viewed him as a kind of patron of the city.

The heirs in Central Europe had but known of the deceased through hearsay and were very surprised when asked to give interviews to different European TV stations. They could never have imagined that they had such a famous relative. («)