Man crowded out of home by collecting passion

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German man was such an avid collector of weapons and other paraphernalia that he ran out of space at home and had to sleep in a hotel, neighbors said following the 71-year-old's death.

Executors found an arsenal of weaponry and assorted goods at the man's two-story home in the western city of Aachen, police said on Wednesday.

"There were 71 guns -- one for each year of his life," said police spokesman Paul Kemen. "He also had 41 cases of ammunition and five walking sticks fitted with retractable blades."

Heiner Hautermans, a reporter at the Aachener Nachrichten paper, said neighbors related how the man, who lived alone, collected everything from clothing to garden tools and watches.

"The house was stuffed to the rafters," he said. "By the end, the neighbors said he had to sleep in a hotel sometimes because there was no more room."

One neighbor sometimes handled up to 14 deliveries of goods a day for the man when he was out, he added. "At some point she got fed up with it."

No heirs have yet been found for the man, police said.

(Reporting by Dave Graham; Editing by Janet Lawrence)