Rudolph Moshammer (September 27, 1940 - January 14, 2005) was a German fashion designer. Although according to his own previously stated birth date he would have been 59 at the time of his violent death, he was often estimated a few years older, and police reports said Moshammer was 64 years old.

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
• Prince Johannes von Thurn und 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. She has her own website on the Internet [1]. Daisy was Moshammer's darling, his trademark and his constant companion.

Moshammer had a strong commitment for 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"), 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".

His bizarre 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 murdered with a black telephone cable. The cable was found near the dead body. Daisy was found alive 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, who had been tracked down through a DNA database, had admitted murdering Moshammer. It has been alleged that Moshammer had refused to pay 2000 Euro to the man, who was in financial difficulties, in return for homosexual favors.

His legacy

Moshammer was one of Germany's most successful fashion designers after Karl Lagerfeld 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.

Books (in German)

• Moshammer, Rudolph: Nicht nur Kleider machen Leute (Not Only Gowns Make People) (1993), ISBN 3796200966

• 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

External Links

• Rudolph Moshammer on findagrave.com