Monday 21, August
Thai Art restaurateur found murdered in Schöneberg
In the early hours of Friday morning, a 61-year-old woman was found with her throat cut in the entrance to a courtyard on the residential street of Fuggerstraße in Schöneberg. It has since been revealed that the victim was Siliya Rothert – the Thai restaurateur behind one the city’s best-loved restaurants.
Exberliner has written about Rothert before. She started out as a cook at her mother’s restaurant in Thailand and, following a move to Berlin, she spent a decade working at Berlin’s legendary street food spot, Thai Park, where her pork tom yum soup drew some of the market’s longest queues.
Then she started a place of her own: Thai Art, whose delicious beef boat noodles and extremely reasonable prices made it one of the essential Berlin restaurants.
All of which makes this crime all the more devastating. An employee of the hotel across the street first notified police after discovering the lifeless body at around 00.50 on Friday morning. According to a report on RBB, a local resident had seen Rothert accompanied by two men by the entrance to the courtyard earlier that day – and that their conversation was “slightly short-tempered.” The investigation is ongoing.
Update: Tuesday 22, August
As the investigation into her death continues, police are searching for Rothert’s ex-boyfriend. According to a report from BILD, the restaurateur’s former partner is believed to have fled to Turkey.