1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

A German Poop Patent Proposal

DW staff (win)October 13, 2005

Taking the eyes off the ground while walking can be dangerous in Berlin: The city's streets are notoriously plastered with dog poop. While many complain about the problem, one resident is now trying to profit from it.

https://p.dw.com/p/7Ihm
Preventing the production of valuable building materials?Image: dpa

It's probably not a good idea to try and figure out how Karl-Friedrich Lentze came up with the idea to turn dog droppings into a building material.

Suffice it to say that he's the proud owner of a Karlchen, the terrier, and a reportedly nameless microwave. At some point, Lentze started feeding the latter with the former's poo-poo and realized that extreme heat turned Karlchen's leftovers into odorless pellets.

Karl-Friedrich Lentze macht Kunst aus Hundekot
Karl and KarlchenImage: dpa

Subsequently, Lentze did the only thing that any sane person would do: He pressed the turf-like pellets into plates and realized that they would make for a great construction material that could be used to insulate buildings, for example.

A patent application is already pending with the German Patent Office in Munich, were officials are probably a little hesitant to test Lentze's flash of genius.

Pulling legs?

Bananen p178
Would straightened ones taste better?Image: BilderBox

They're probably still recovering from the unemployed artist's last patent application for a machine to straighten bananas.

While Lentze assured reporters that he's "serious" about his inventions, there's a good chance he's just trying to pull people's legs: In the past, he's also suggested opening a brothel for dogs and suggested that Berlin's garbage collection service should cremate him after his death to save money.