For their car insurance Heidi Hetzer was still in 2018 as a beginner driver. There was hardly a more sophisticated driver than Heidi Hetzer in Germany. Over the Easter days, the Berlin rally driver has now died at the age of 81 years.

"She was at home in her apartment in Berlin when it happened," her son and daughter said. The former dealership boss was considered Berlin original. Nearly four million fans followed their travel and social media experiences.

The exact cause of death is not yet known, but it all points to old age or an accident, said Hetzer's children. Possible is a heart attack or stroke. "The circumstances of her death are far from as important as those of her life, she has lived consciously and publicly, as if every day were her last," wrote son Dylan and daughter Marla.

"I do not live anymore, but I lived"

"She understood - and often said - that every day is a gift," it said. "Until recently, she had an openness, a curiosity about the foreign, and an unshakable faith in the goodness of mankind, her family loved her very much and she will miss her very much."

Until mid-April, Hetzer was still on a longer African tour with a pink jeep. Previously, she spent two and a half years traveling around the world in her vintage "Hudo" - a Hudson Greater Eight, built in 1930. However, since for decades she had not allowed a new car in her name, but only vintage cars, her car insurance had taken her for a novice driver - after 65 years with a driver's license.

The quick-witted Berliner was always to have a good spell. When on her world tour in Laos the brakes did not work properly, the adventurer commented shortly: "I just drove slower."

On Tuesday was the last entry in her blog: "I do not live anymore, but I lived." An admirer commented in the obituary column of their website: "Always a little crazy and sometimes really over-confident, but always amiable." And: "My respect for this lifetime achievement."

Heidi Hetzer, a trained automotive mechanic in his father's company, had taken over her father's business at the age of 31. From 1969 on, she built it into one of the largest car dealerships in Berlin. She led it until 2012 and was one of the successful entrepreneurs of the city. As a rally and vintage car driver she won more than 150 awards.