Willi was the son of a Berlin stonemason. His mother died when he was three years old and he was raised by his step-mother along with two siblings. At 14 he started as an apprentice chef at Berlin’s prestigious Adlon Hotel. In 1956 he migrated to Australia and was appointed Executive Chef for the Chevron Hotel, at the time Melbourne’s leading five star international hotel. He met Karin, also from Germany, in a cafe in Melbourne and they soon married. By 1957 Willi was a TV star, with his own prime-time cooking show on HSV-7. In 1958 Karin and Willi purchased The Quamby tea-rooms in Olinda. They renamed it The Cuckoo Restaurant and Willi introduced Australia to the Smorgasbord. The Cuckoo was one of seven restaurants he had opened in Melbourne. By 1966 they had three children, Andrei, Sabine and Daniela. In February 1976 Willi disappreared under mysterious circumstances. Evidence suggests foul play, but the case remains unsolved.