Manfred Gnadinger

Life & Legacy

Manfred Gnädinger (1936 in Boehringen, Germany – 28 December 2002, in Camelle, Spain) a.k.a. Man or O Alemán was a German hermit and sculptor who lived in the village of Camelle, on the Costa da Morte, in Galicia (Spain). He spent much of his time building sculptures on the beach and tending to his small garden. In November 2002, when the oil spill of the Prestige destroyed his sculptures and the ecosystem of the area he lived in, news reports stated that locals believed that Gnädinger let himself die of melancholy and sadness. He thus became a symbol of the destruction caused by the oil spill.