"The lowest point of my life" Famous TV emigrant Chris Töpperwien has to go to court

USA emigrant Chris Töpperwien is on trial in Austria. After the start of the trial, the "Goodbye Deutschland" star spoke out. The situation is "exhausting" and his family are the "victims".

He became known as the "currywurst man", and now "Goodbye Germany" accompanies emigrant Chris Töpperwien through his deepest crisis. The entrepreneur has to answer for fraud and embezzlement at the regional court in Wiener Neustadt. On Monday, as part of the documentary series, VOX showed how much the trial is affecting the 50-year-old native of Neuss.

"This is definitely the lowest point in my life," Töpperwien admitted frankly when asked by a reporter. "There's nothing lower than that. There's never been anything like it."

Töpperwien described the start of the trial in Vienna as "very, very extensive" and "very, very exhausting". The "Goodbye Deutschland" star: "The judge read out what it was all about, all the pages, all the accusations and so on, and then I was questioned. I had to verbally substantiate my statement, which I had already submitted in writing, for every single accusation."

"I feel sorry for my family the most, they are the ones who suffer"

Chris Töpperwien has been charged with over 20 counts following allegations made against him by his former employer. However, after more than seven hours of hearings, the trial against him was adjourned for a month and a half because an important witness failed to appear. Another low blow for the green card holder, who lives in the USA.

"It's very exhausting when you think about it, sitting in the courtroom for seven hours with a ten-minute break in between," Töpperwien laments on "Goodbye Deutschland". The postponement is costing him "a lot of money", but what is much worse is "that my family will be alone again when I have to come here. I feel sorry for my family the most, they are the ones who are suffering." Töpperwien lives in Los Angeles with his wife Nicole (33) and their one-year-old son. The couple run a bakery-café there.

Töpperwien was arrested at Munich Airport at the beginning of May 2024. What he did not know at first was that a warrant had already been issued for his arrest some time ago. His old employer in Austria accused him of embezzling company funds.

"I thought I'd never get out of here"

Chris Töpperwien described what followed as a horror trip lasting several weeks in an episode of "Goodbye Deutschland" that aired the previous week. "Everything was taken from me," he recalled. "Then they put me in a cell with nothing in it, just a bench. I sat there for three hours or so." Only then was he presented with the arrest warrant. "That's when I lost faith."

He spent the night after his arrest in a windowless "damp cellar". It was "the most terrible night" of his life. "I was scared, I felt sick. I threw up. I was intimidated and panicked. I just felt powerless, as if my balls had been cut off." Looking back, Töpperwien spoke of a "permanent panic attack": "I was scared to death. I thought I was going to get the death penalty. I thought I'd never get out of here again."

The next day, the entrepreneur was transferred to Landshut Prison. Later he was sent to Stadelheim prison. He spent a total of twelve days in prison in Germany. Chris Töpperwien kept a diary of his experiences in prison. "I still haven't realized that it happened. When you go to prison, it's like watching a bad movie. It's a humiliating feeling." The 2019 jungle camp contestant was released on bail in Austria. What happens next for him is still open following the postponement of his trial.

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