Life with the best sideburns in the world

By Joerg Taron Sep 8, 2011, 4:06 GMT

Cologne - Whenever Dieter Besuch leaves home he gets plenty of interested looks from passers-by. The 54-year-old from the town of Olpe in western Germany has the most impressive sideburns in the world - and that's official.

'I never go out without my 'routine beard' on,' he says. Besuch's 'routine beard' requires spending at least 30 minutes in the bathroom to wash, blow dry and groom his 80-centimetre-long sideburns.

For competitions Besuch's hairdresser spends hours getting his sideburns into perfect shape. 'I can't do that every day,' says Besuch. That's because the beard that won him the Partial Beard Freestyle category in Trondheim, Norway, is very delicate. 'He can only drink through a straw and can't eat anything when he's got that beard on,' says his wife Christiane.

Besuch is an engineer who runs a company that makes precision-made parts. 'My beard doesn't bother me at work,' he says. In fact it often becomes a topic of discussion with customers as his imposing sideburns cannot be overlooked.

Christiane Besuch has known her husband since 1978 and he has almost always had a beard. Only once in that time has he been clean-shaven.

'He accidentally shaved off too much on one side and then removed the whole thing,' says Christiane. But that was a long time ago. 'He was a different man without his beard. At the time I wanted his beard to grow back as soon as possible.'

Dieter Besuch always attracts attention when out shopping or on holiday but that does not bother his wife. She often walks a few steps behind her husband to see how strangers react: 'It's quite amusing to see people whispering to each other.' Recently a four-year-old stood in front of Besuch, gaped at him with an open mouth and said 'Crikey!'

Besuch is not the only person in Germany with a best-beard title. The world championships are held every two years with awards presented in 17 categories.

'Seven titles are held by Germans,' says Lutz Giese, vice president of Germany's beard association. Giese holds the title of best beard in the Chinese category. 'Germans have been big winners along with Americans in recent years,' he says. Two hundred people competed in the last world championship.

In contrast to Besuch, Giese and a few of his colleagues never leave home without their beards fully styled. 'We're totally committed to our beards,' says Giese and laughs.

An opulently styled beard is always guaranteed to attract attention. Turkish men, for example, tend to admire facial hair. 'A distinctive beard is regarded as a sign of manliness in their culture,' says Dieter Besuch. He's visited the Far East where he's also been the centre of attention. 'People there like to have their photograph taken with me,' something which he is happy to do.

But touching his sideburns is not allowed. 'Women often want to feel them.' But Besuch always responds with a firm but polite 'Nein'. Apart from his wife the only people allowed to inspect his sideburns up close are the competition judges.