"Mad Jens" and the chainsaw action: Former national keeper Lehmann's path is paved with embarrassments and missteps

A bizarre neighborhood dispute - "Mad Jens" and the chainsaw action: Former national keeper Lehmann's path is paved with embarrassments and missteps

From Friday morning, Jens Lehmann, former German national goalkeeper and 2006 World Cup hero, will stand trial at the district court in Starnberg. The list of charges from the Munich II public prosecutor's office is impressively long: insulting police officers, damage to property, trespassing and attempted parking fraud. In the opinion of the prosecutors, Lehmann is guilty of a number of things.

A second trial day has therefore even been scheduled for December 22. A dozen witnesses are to testify and numerous journalists will follow the trial. Lehmann and his lawyer actually wanted to avoid so much public attention, but the court decided in October to admit the prosecution 's case without restriction.

Jens Lehmann wanted to trick the surveillance camera

Perhaps the court is not taking the defendant's prominence into consideration because this is not the first time Lehmann has appeared before the Starnberg district court. He had already been sentenced to a heavy fine there once before in 2016. More on this later.

In the present case, Lehmann is accused of sawing through a roof beam in his neighbor's garage shell in June 2022. According to the indictment, Lehmann wanted to get an unobstructed view of Lake Starnberg from his property. The crime scene was the small community of Berg on the eastern shore of the lake. Anyone who lives in an expensive villa here wants to enjoy an unobstructed view of the beautiful landscape.

The 54-year-old ex-professional is said to have carried out the crime with a chainsaw. According to the indictment, the saw-happy perpetrator also cut down a small tree. Before he took action, he tore off the power cable of a surveillance camera in order to remain undetected. But Lehmann's plan did not work. The camera switched to battery operation and recorded the crime in detail. The police then spoke of a kind of "live transmission". So the evidence is clear.

Even as a young goalkeeper, he revealed a headstrong character

One exciting question will be whether the recordings will be played in court and the public will get an impression of "Chainsaw Jens" in the act - if it even gets that far. Lehmann's lawyer Christoph Rückel has announced a statement for the start of the trial.

His client will be keen to put this unpleasant story behind him quickly. For the public, the proceedings are a feast for the eyes. It continues the never-ending saga of Lehmann's lapses and scurrilities, which the Essen native has regularly delivered since the start of his career, both on and off the pitch.

Even as a young goalkeeper, he revealed an idiosyncratic character. When he was substituted as goalkeeper for Schalke 04 in 1993, he took the S-Bahn home in a huff during the game. According to his own account, he had to borrow the money for the ticket. His coach Jörg Berger wanted to sell him afterwards, but Lehmann stayed with the club until 1998 and was part of the great Schalke team that won the 1997 UEFA Cup.

The quarter-final against Argentina was his masterpiece

He continued his career extremely successfully, even if he often got in his own way with his quirky and impulsive behavior. He became German champion with Borussia Dortmund in 2002, English champion with Arsenal London in 2004 (without losing a single match that season!), and won the English Cup in 2005. In the national team, he won the competition against Oliver Kahn and was one of the heroes of the 2006 World Cup summer fairytale.

His two saves in the penalty shoot-out in the 2006 World Cup quarter-final against Argentina are unforgettable. The piece of paper with the information about the Argentinian shooters, which Lehmann pulled out of his socks, made history. Lehmann later made the historic piece available for auction in aid of the "Ein Herz für Kinder" campaign. It raised one million euros. The second iconic episode of the legendary game is captured in a famous photo: Lehmann sits on the pitch before the penalty shoot-out, while Oliver Kahn holds his hand and gives him words of encouragement.

Four years later, he ended his career at VfB Stuttgart (apart from a one-off appearance as a substitute keeper for Arsenal in 2011). In the Swabian jersey, Lehmann provided one of his more amusing stories when he jumped behind the bar to relieve himself during a Champions League match.

He threw the opponent's shoes onto the goal net

Lehmann behaved in an unsportsmanlike manner just as regularly. He unceremoniously threw Hoffenheim's Sejad Salihovic's shoe, which he had lost, onto the goal net. He was once shown a yellow card after storming halfway across the pitch in Dortmund in order to bundle over his own center forward Marcio Amoroso. His worst slip-up came in the 2006 Champions League final with Arsenal London. In the 18th minute, Lehmann received a red card after an emergency brake and Arsenal lost the game. The English media had already nicknamed Lehmann "Mad Jens".

Even fans were not always safe from the impulsive keeper. There is a legendary anecdote about Lehmann stealing a supporter's glasses on the way to the Stuttgart team bus after he had been sent off in the previous match.

After his career, the father of three continued the series of embarrassments and lapses. As a TV pundit, he made derogatory comments about current national team captain Ilkay Gündogan ("He's intelligent and speaks great German"), he irritated viewers with statements about homosexual footballers coming out ("Football is a man's game"), he played down the coronavirus and made racist comments about former professional Dennis Aogo in a WhatsApp message ("Is Dennis actually your black man?"). The latter gaffe cost him his seat on the supervisory board of Hertha BSC Berlin and his job as a TV pundit for pay-TV channel Sky.

And now the neighborhood dispute that has brought him his second court case. Seven years ago, the district court in Starnberg had already fined him 42,500 euros. Lehmann had behaved in traffic, as he sometimes used to in the square. He had threatened another driver and, in another case, aided and abetted a hit-and-run. He received the penalty order for the latter.

It can be assumed that the pugnacious Lehmann will be convicted again in the current proceedings. Incidentally, it is said that he has repeatedly had arguments with his neighbors in recent years. Other garages have also been damaged. We will continue to hear from him, we can assume.