The last public appearance of the twins Alice and Ellen Kessler dates back to last October 24, on the occasion of the premiere of the ‘ARTistART’ show of the German professional circus Roncalli in Munich, an event attended by several VIPs: this was reported by the German media, which published photos of the two, both smiling and dressed in multicolored coats, in the company of the TV presenter Carolin Reiber.
The Bavarian newspaper Abendzeitung reports that Uschi Ackermann, widow of the well-known gastronomic entrepreneur Gerd Käfer, was also present that evening. «I found them quieter than usual and a little more reserved. I thought to myself, “Maybe they’re not well,” the woman told this newspaper’s notebooks.
The Kessler twins had been considering assisted suicide for some time and had together chosen today, November 17, for their death. This was reported by a spokesperson for the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Humanes Sterben (DGHS, German Society for Human Death), quoted by the newspaper Munchner Merkur.
Both women had been members of the organization for more than six months. The DGHS, based in Berlin, is one of three German associations for assisted suicide. According to the Bavarian newspaper, a lawyer and a doctor conducted preliminary interviews with the Kesslers and went to their home in Grunwald today to assist them. Death occurs via an intravenous infusion, which the recipient must activate independently, through which a high dose of barbiturate anesthetic flows. This causes cardiac and circulatory arrest in a short time.
Police confirmed an investigation in Grunwald, where the two 89-year-olds lived in a villa, but the homicide squad was not called to the scene. The two women had publicly addressed the topic of their deaths in the past.
Identical and childless, the Kesslers had announced in interviews, among other things, that they wanted to include charities in their wills and be buried together. The legacy of the Kessler twins should go to Doctors Without Borders. The two sisters who died together at the age of 89 anticipated it a few years ago. «We no longer have relatives and if we do we don’t know them. We chose them because they risk their lives for others, they received the Nobel Peace Prize and they are serious”, they explained in some past interviews when speaking of their desire to leave their assets to MSF.