Gerhard von Leonstein

Gerhard von Leonstein, whose actual name is Gerhard Bengesser, was a cook before he joined the Austrian Federal Gendarmerie and worked there as a criminal investigation officer. After his retirement, he stepped onto his sailing vessel and simply sailed off, out into the open. In the process, he discovered his passion for writing stories and poetry.

He is drawn to Croatia, which has become his second home. Although other countries always tempt him, he has remained loyal to this fascinating coastal state as an die-hard sailor and keeps returning there.

"It's the people and their stories that always captivate me, especially on the islands," he likes to say. You could listen to him for hours when he tells about it in his witty way.

His private highlights are the participation in the Transatlantic-Regatta ARC to Europe with Dr. Peter Atzenhofer on his sailing yacht "ONYX" in 2007 on the sections Antigua - Bermuda - Azores, which they also won, as well as his trip in 2011 with his vintage tractor Steyr 180 from Vogau, district Leibnitz, to Poreč, Croatia.

Since 2018 Gerhard Bengesser is traveling with his sailing vessel along the Mediterranean Sea, where he has written books for the first time under his pen name "Gerhard von Leonstein" in his unmistakable soulful way and thus draws pictures in the minds of his readers.