He needed no aeroplane, no ship and no car. Just two wheels, a camera and a boundless curiosity about the people of this world. Heinz Stücke, who was born and raised in Hövelhof, Westphalia, has died. With him passes a figure whose life story defies categorisation – and whom no one will ever be able to emulate.
What started as a few months turned into 51 years
It was 1962 when the young Heinz Stücke set off from Hövelhof. All he had with him was a simple bicycle, a camera and a vague intention to see a bit of the world. What was meant to be a few months turned into 51 years. Without a break. On his bicycle.
What followed was no longer a journey in the conventional sense. It was a life. A life that took him through deserts and mountains, through remote villages and bustling metropolises, through the Cold War, times of change and globalisation. In the process, Heinz Stücke covered some 648,000 kilometres and visited 211 countries and territories – a figure that leaves even the most seasoned travellers speechless.
The book: Just a quick trip around the world
Delius Klasing Verlag has published a book about Heinz Stücke and his decades-long journey around the world. In the interview, the author Carina Wolfram explains how the book came about in collaboration with him. You can get the book Order here.
Guinness World Records recognised his extraordinary achievement on several occasions with official entries and awards. Yet anyone who knew Heinz Stücke even slightly knew that, for him, records were a mere side issue.
It’s not about countries – it’s about meeting people
“I don’t travel to collect countries,” Heinz Stücke said on more than one occasion. His real focus was on the people. The woman who handed him a bowl of food in a Kenyan village. The fisherman in the Philippines who showed him his boat. The farmer in South America who let him sleep in his bed.
For Heinz Stücke, an invitation into a stranger’s home was worth more than any famous building in the world. His greatest collection was not a collection of countries – it was a collection of friendships that spanned all five continents.
To nurture these friendships and make new ones, Heinz Stücke learnt languages: he spoke German, English, Spanish, French and Japanese fluently. He was able to make himself understood in many others as well. For him, language was not a barrier, but a bridge.
Travelled further than Marco Polo
It is difficult to place his life’s work in its historical context – and yet it is necessary. Marco Polo, whose journeys to Asia are still regarded today as the epitome of the human spirit of adventure, spent around 24 years away from his homeland. Heinz Stücke spent more than twice as long away from a permanent home. Not in search of trade routes or riches, but in search of understanding, connection and humanity.
He recorded his experiences not only in his memory, but also in books, documentaries and photographs. In 2015, the Dutch travel writer Eric van den Berg dedicated a comprehensive biography to Heinz Stück’s life: ‘Home Is Elsewhere – 50 Years Around the World by Bike’. The book brings together numerous photographs that Stück took himself during his decades-long journey.
The Spanish filmmaker Albert Albacete, too, recognised in Heinz Stücke’s life a story that needed to be told. In 2020, he produced the documentary *The Man Who Wanted to See It All*, which found its audience in 2021. In it, he describes his very own definition of home: home is not a place. Home is wherever people offer hospitality, trust and friendship.
In the end, he found a family
In the final months of his life, Heinz Stücke – who had spent his whole life helping others – found a new family of his own. A Spanish family took him in, cared for him and treated him with kindness and dignity right up until his last breath.
To this family, he wasn’t the legendary world traveller with the Guinness World Record. He was Heinz. A friend. A member of the family. In his final months, Heinz Stücke himself spoke warmly of ‘his Spanish family’. What began as an unexpected encounter became a deep and enduring bond – a final testament to what he had preached and lived by all his life: that genuine human connection is possible anytime, anywhere.
Set off from Hövelhof – arrived in the world
His home town of Hövelhof, from which he once set out, is mourning the loss of what is surely its most famous resident. Heinz Stücke rarely returned after his long journey – and yet he always remained connected to the town. He was its ambassador to the world, proof that great things can come from even a small town in East Westphalia.
648,000 kilometres. 211 countries and territories. A 51-year round-the-world cycle tour.
Figures that are almost beyond the human imagination. And yet they are merely the outer shell of a story whose true essence lies in encounters, conversations and friendships.
Heinz Stücke has shown that the world is not a hostile place – but a planet full of people who are willing to open their doors when someone knocks with an open heart.
Have a safe journey, Heinz Stücke.