In the 50s and 60s, boxer Gustav “Bubi” Scholz was a superstar in West Germany – but crashed after his career. In 1984, he is sent to prison after he shoots his wife Helga
He was the most famous German boxer of the post-war era.
An idol of the young Federal Republic of Germany, similar in stature to Fritz Walter, Helmut Rahn and the other protagonists of the 1954 “Miracle of Bern”.
His crystal blue eyes adorned the covers of numerous magazines, he shared the red carpet at celebrity parties with Harald Juhnke, Hildegard Knef and Mario Adorf – and he also increased his fame as an interpreter of shallow music songs such as “Sie hat nur Blue Jeans” and “Der starke Joe aus Mexiko”.
Gustav “Bubi” Scholz’s rise from blacksmith’s son from Berlin/Prenzlauer Berg to acclaimed sports hero was the kind of we-are-who-again story that the society of the economic miracle years could only love.
But on July 22, 1984 at the latest – 40 years ago today – the fairytale story became a tragedy: it was the day Bubi Scholz shot his own wife Helga in a drunken stupor.
Gustav “Bubi” Scholz: A fairy tale of the economic miracle years
Gustav Wilhelm Hermann Scholz’s glory years were long gone by this point: born on April 12, 1930 – late enough to be untainted by the Nazi era – he first trained as a chef after breaking off his apprenticeship as a mechanic and then, from 1947, became a boxer who was ahead of his time.
The southpaw adopted a fighting style that was unusually elegant for the era; thanks to his speed, the middleweight escaped his opponent’s punches and then struck again.
In 96 professional fights, he left the ring as the winner 88 times, with six fights ending in a draw – 46 of his victories were by knockout. Despite a bout of tuberculosis, which set him back for a time, he became the most famous and successful German pugilist after Max Schmeling, the first German heavyweight world champion and conqueror of the icon Joe Louis.
Self-destruction with alcohol
Like Schmeling, Scholz had also celebrated successes in America, defeating Al Andrews in New York’s venerable Madison Square Garden in 1954. His opponent never won a round and was knocked out in the fifth. Promoters urged him and his coaches to stay in the USA permanently. However, Scholz went back to Europe.
After further successes, he got his world championship fight in the light heavyweight division against Harald Johnson on June 23, 1962. He could have become the first world champion on German soil in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. And he came close to knocking Johnson out, but missed the final blow. In the end, he was still defeated and Max Schmeling came to the devastating conclusion: “Bubi saw the palace, but he didn’t get in.”
Scholz was never to let go of this fight. He is said to have repeatedly watched the film of his defeat in his villa and cursed trainer Lado Taubeneck, who had advised him to adopt defensive tactics. And he drank alcohol. A lot of alcohol.
The fact that Scholz never really found a new purpose in life after the end of his career made things worse.
His wife Helga, who owned a successful perfumery and to whom he had been married since 1955, also took to the bottle more and more often. Quarrels and arguments became more and more a constant companion of the former dream couple, who were also welcome guests in German high society
Bubi Scholz shot Mrs. Helga in a drunken rage
On the night of July 22/23, 1984, Helga Scholz’s life ended in the villa they shared in the posh Grunewald district: the drunk “Bubi” shot his wife with a small-caliber rifle through the door of the guest toilet.
The crime was similar to the fatal shooting of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp by para-superstar Oscar Pistorius 29 years later – as was the defense: Scholz claimed that the fatal shot was an accident that happened while cleaning the gun.
The court did not believe him – but was nevertheless lenient due to the celebrity defendant’s conditional sanity: Scholz only had to spend three years in Berlin-Moabit prison, which he nevertheless left in 1987 at the age of 57 as a broken man. He never spoke about his crime again afterwards
Cause of death: Choked on a piece of bread
Scholz survived a suicide attempt, a remarriage to the young Sabine Arndt in 1993 (later married to Schwarzwaldklinik actor Klausjürgen Wussow) gave him another boost, but several strokes and dementia turned him into a nursing case. He died on August 21, 2000, having choked on his breakfast: Scholz was too weak to cough up a bite of bread he had swallowed.
Two years earlier, the major TV film “The Bubi Scholz Story” had once again shed light on all the highs and lows of his main character, starring Benno Fürmann as the young Bubi and the great Götz George as the late Scholz.
Gustav Scholz was buried at the Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf, since 2008 his grave has been located at the Heerstraße cemetery following a reburial arranged by his widow.