What is Captain of Köpenick?
{{Infobox person | name = The Captain of Köpenick | image = Wilhelmvoigt.JPG | birth_name = Wilhelm Voigt | birth_date = 13 February 1849 | death_date = 3 January 1922 | nationality = [[Germans|German]] | occupation = [[Shoemaker]], [[criminal]], and [[impostor]] | known_for = Pretended to be a [[Captain]] in the [[army]] }} The '''Captain of Köpenick''' (born '''Wilhelm Voigt''' on February 13, 1849 - January 3, 1922) was a [[Germany|German]] [[shoemaker]], [[criminal]] and [[wikt:impostor|impostor]] who became world-famous in 1906 for a trick he played in [[Berlin]] when he pretended to be a [[Captain]] in the [[army]]. ==Early life== Voigt was born in [[Tilsit]], a town which was then part of [[Germany]] but is now called Sovetsk near [[Kaliningrad]], [[Russia]]. In 1863, aged 14, he was sent to [[prison]] for 14 days for stealing. He was [[wikt:expel|expelled]] from school. Voigt’s father taught him how to make [[shoe]]s. However, Voigt continued to steal and [[forge]] and was often sent to prison. Eventually he was let out of prison in 1906. Voigt travelled around until he went to live with his sister who lived near [[Berlin]]. He worked briefly as a court shoemaker until, on August 24, 1906, police expelled him from Berlin as an “undesirable” (someone who is not wanted). Although he was supposed to have gone to [[Hamburg]] he stayed in Berlin. He could not get a job because he was an unregistered [[citizen]], but he could not register to live in Berlin because he had no job. ==Captain of Köpenick== [[Image:Hauptmann Köpenick.JPG|thumb|A statue of Wilhelm Voigt as the Captain of Köpenick at Köpenick city hall]] On October 16, 1906, Voigt was ready for the big adventure that made him famous. He had bought parts of a captain's [[uniform]] from different shops. He had resigned from the shoe factory ten days before. He put on the captain’s uniform and went to the local army [[barracks]], stopped four [[grenadier]]s and a [[serg