Meet the tattoo addict who insists he’s just a “normal” man with a big heart – who takes care of animals in his free time.
Andreas Stauffiger, 43, lives in Zurich, Switzerland, where he works as a pastry chef and a volunteer medical fire responder.
Despite his slightly intimidating appearance, Andreas insists he is a sweetheart, who likes to take care of animals who have been mistreated and regularly brings them into his own home.
The chef got his first tattoo – a dolphin on his right upper arm – just a few weeks after his 18th birthday and has since gone on to get 60 more inkings, including several on his face.
Over the past few years, the tattoo addict estimates he has spent over £23,500 on his body art, although he admits it might be more.
As well as multiple tattoos, Andreas also has 13 piercings, including on both nipples, his chest, septum and tongue, and even on his genitals.
He was inspired to get inked as a child after watching the popular German TV show Wetten, dass..? (roughly translated as ‘Wanna bet, that…?’).
“On this show, two guys performed who were covered in tattoos – although, to this day, I’m not sure if they were real or fake,” Andreas told Jam Press.
“However, since watching that show, I knew that I wanted to get tattoos on my body.”
Andreas is now tattooed from head to toe and plans on filling up every inch of space in-between his current tattoos – despite admitting they can be painful.
He said: “I guess soon, I’ll be covered completely.
“Of course, tattoos are painful but the pain is trainable and is not constant.
“It also depends on many things like which part of the body you are getting inked, the stress you’re under that day, your physical condition, when you last ate, etc.
“I can handle physical pain very well, I don’t know exactly why but my pain level is very high.
“As soon as I feel it on my body, I’ll focus on that pain and can defeat it immediately.
“I can tell you that as a firefighter, I have experienced a lot of physical pain.”
Andreas insists he is just a “normal” member of society and is a kind, considerate and respectable person at heart.
He said: “I have a full-time job, I earn my own money and I’m a part of society.
“I also never did any tattoos to rebel against society, they just belong to me.
“My friends all like me because of my ‘smooth’ character, it’s almost impossible to be angry at me.
“One of my mottos is ‘as long you breathe, you aren’t in trouble’.”
He notes that none of his tattoos are political and he does not support racism of any form.
Andreas added: “For me, we are all children of this planet and it doesn’t matter where someone is born or which skin colour someone has.
All of his tattoos tell a different story and his “most powerful” inking is the logo from Battlestar Galactica, which is on his throat.
He said: “I love it because as a little child, whenever I was scared I felt that I was protected by a huge Battlestar.
“Today of course I’m not protected by it – but instead by a Star Destroyer from the Star Wars universe.
“I also have a Bugs Bunny tattoo which reminds me of all the animals I have cared for – they were all members of my family and I want my ashes to be sprinkled into the river along with theirs when I die.
“I also have two portraits of Renée O’Connor and Lucy Lawless who were two stars of my childhood. I would love to get their autographs as a tattoo one day.”
Andreas claims his family were not overly happy when he began getting inkings over his body but eventually learned to “accept him”.
He said: “Of course, no one in my family was happy about my tattoos and especially my facial tattoo.
“However, they learned to accept me and my tattoos and I’m still a member of my family.
“But they don’t know about my other body modifications.”
As for the future, Andreas doesn’t plan on slowing down when it comes to getting more tattoos.
He added: “I guess it will never stop and I never will be finished.
