Bavaria Claims the ‘Piano Man’

An institutionalized drifter known as the “Piano Man” for his performances in a British hospital is a 20-year-old from Bavaria, the German government said Monday.

The German Foreign Ministry said he was flown home Saturday.

It did not release his name or any other details about his life.

A spokesman for the German Embassy in London said officials had provided the man with replacement travel documents.

“It was someone who had lost his passport and needed to get back to Germany, and we helped him,” the spokesman said. “Under German law on the protection of personal data, I cannot tell you anything more about this man.”

The man was found April 7 on a beach in southern England.

The West Kent National Health Trust, which has been caring for the man, said he had been discharged because his condition had improved. Spokesman Adrian Lowther would not comment further, citing patient confidentiality.

Social workers and staffers from the National Missing Persons Helpline spent four months investigating more than 800 leads about his identity, including reports that he was Czech musician Tomas Strnad or French entertainer Steven Villa Massone.

Reports that he was a Canadian eccentric skilled on the piano also proved false.