Overview
- Mourners filled the Cranger Kirmes grounds in Herne for a public service that drew fairground crews from across Germany and riders from his Harley club.
- The presiding priest said Ritter died of heart failure with no warning signs of illness, confirming what many attendees had only heard informally.
- A large portrait stood beside his Harley as bikers revved their engines in salute and the crowd followed his casket for a lap around the fairground.
- Ritter was the son of Schausteller president Albert Ritter, co-ran the Zum Ritter beer garden with his sister Yvonne, and worked many fairs including the Essen Christmas market.
- After the service, his father issued a public thank-you and said the family will keep his memory alive, with burial planned in the dedicated Schausteller grave field by the church at the fair site.