Thirty Years on German Streets, Then a Memoir

Richard Brox grew up in Germany in a family marked by hardship. His parents, who had survived concentration camps, were left deeply affected by what they had lived through, and as a child he was moved by the youth welfare authorities from one children's home to another. He has said he first tried drugs at the age of thirteen.

His last place of shelter was his parents' flat in Mannheim. When his mother died, he was 21, and the city had the apartment cleared. With no family home left, he ended up on the streets, and he spent roughly thirty years living outdoors across Germany.

In time he broke free of his drug dependence. He later set down his experiences in an autobiography, Kein Dach über dem Leben, published by Rowohlt in 2017 and written with the help of the ghostwriter Albrecht Kieser. A reviewer for Swiss public radio and television SRF noted that the book tells his story in loosely linked episodes rather than in strict order, and found it more candid than polished.

Brox has turned what he learned into practical help for others. He runs a blog with tips for people on the street, including where to find emergency shelters and counselling services. He also has a larger aim: to open a hotel for homeless people, where guests would be treated with dignity and respect.

Having once been pushed to the margins of society, he now speaks from the centre of the debate about homelessness in Germany.