FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Drugs

Berlin's Most Famous Heroin Addict Was Arrested for Beating Her Dog and Biting a Woman

The author and former it girl known as Christiane F. now faces criminal charges for personal offense, aggravated assault, and animal abuse.

Photo via Deutsche Levante Verlag

Read: 'I Will Die Soon; I Know That': Meeting the Real Christiane F

Berlin's Hermannplatz has garnered a reputation for itself by housing just as many down-and-outs as it does yuppies. Having previously been feared by some, the area has become the epitome of Berlin's fucked-up-yet-still-really-sexy style. Yesterday, it played host to a story so cliché that you'd be tempted to write the whole thing off as a dodgy urban myth.

According to local newspaper, B.Z., an altercation involving a couple of people and a dog broke out and turned violent when one of the parties was bitten. Not that strange for a dogfight to end in someone getting bitten, right? Well, it actually was, because this time, it wasn't the dog biting—it was the owner. It wasn't just any owner, either—it was Germany's most famous drug-addict, Vera Christiane Felscherinow, a.k.a. Christiane F.

Felscherinow's late 1970s autobiographic novel, and subsequent movie, Christiane F. – We Children from Bahnhof Zoo, immortalized her as a poster girl for West Berlin's rave scene. At some point, even though she still used drugs, rumor had it that she'd cleaned her act up a bit and had begun living an almost mundane life. In 2013, she released her second book, Mein Zweites Leben ("My second life"), in which she harrowingly described her struggle to come to terms with a past full of underage prostitution, addiction, and suicidal tendencies.

On Monday evening, a woman claims to have witnessed Felscherinow administering a beating to her own dog. After confronting her and calling the police, the woman tried to block Christiane's exit from the crime scene. Needless to say, this wasn't to everybody's fancy and Christiane lashed out—with her teeth. According to B.Z.: "Christiane F. bit the woman's hand and began insulting her with racial slurs." The police have confirmed both the woman's identity and the incident.

The 53-year-old now faces criminal charges for personal offense, aggravated assault, and animal abuse.