Her life was colorful and full of unusual twists and turns. It ended lonely and sad. Former striptease dancer, actress and animal rights activist Barbara Ossenkopp died late on Friday evening at the age of 78 in Jakarta. A long time ago, the German from Lüneburg suffered from Parkinson's and leukemia. She came back to the hospital earlier last week. She tested positive for the coronavirus and eventually had to be ventilated in the intensive care unit. Without the presence of friends and family, she was buried on Saturday by men in white plastic suits in a special cemetery for corona deaths in Jakarta. A simple white wooden cross now marks their final resting place.
The woman who was once known as "Chinese Babs" on the Reeperbahn had spent the past few decades in Indonesia. At first she lived in Bali. For the past 20 years she has been the friend, helper and closest confidante of Ulrike Freifrau von Mengden, who ran a rescue station for orangutans in a Jakarta zoo. When the friend died a few months before her 100th birthday last year, Ossenkopp fell into poverty and lived in a simple settlement in the metropolis.
The former local fame of the Hamburg Kiez was not forgotten. Her old friends in Hamburg collected money so that she could afford the expensive blood wash. Udo Lindenberg donated 5000 euros alone. However, nothing came of the hoped-for return to Germany because her poor health did not allow her to travel by plane. In Jakarta, Indonesian friends and Germans abroad looked after them, and some donated blood. Her funeral is now paid for by the donations. What is left over should go to an animal welfare project or to a fund for people stranded in Jakarta who are in a similarly difficult situation.