Michael Schumacher grew up here
Michael Schumacher, 54, grew up in Mannheim.
Today, the German village is eerily deserted.
– Ten years ago the place began to die out, says Josef Valder, one of the last remaining residents Bild.
It has been over nine years since Michael Schumacher suffered a serious brain injury in a skiing accident.
Today, no one really knows how the Formula 1 legend lives – other than that the family resides in Geneva, Switzerland.
Ghost town
At the same time, the German’s hometown is disappearing.
Today, twelve people live in Manheim, about four miles west of Cologne. Here the streets are deserted and the houses stand empty.
And soon there will be none left at all. The village falls victim when one of the world’s largest coal mines, Hambach, is to expand. In 2024, the backhoes start to rumble in Manheim.
– Ten years ago the place began to die out. Pubs and shops closed and many children decided to start over elsewhere, Josef Valder, one of the last remaining residents, told Bild.
The go-kart course remains
Michael Schumacher grew up here with his parents Rolf and Elisabeth and his brother Ralf. At the time, approximately 1,700 people lived in the village.
In the summer of 1995, the 54-year-old married his Corinna in the village hall.
A small plaster on the wound, however, is that the go-kart track Erftlandring in the village, which schooled Schumacher and laid the foundation for his seven World Cup titles in F1, will remain intact.
