A man with 560 piercings, countless tattoos, and forehead implants – this is how he looked before
This man has over 560 piercings on his body, which earned him a world record 😱 In addition to the piercings, he has horn-shaped implants in his forehead and his body is almost entirely covered in tattoos 😨 But the most fascinating part is that he used to be a regular office worker, and he got his first piercing at the age of 40 😱😱
When you look at Rolf Buchholz today, it’s hard to believe he was once a completely ordinary office employee.
Originally from the German city of Dortmund, Rolf earned a university degree in telecommunications and worked for many years at a major IT company.
He was quiet, almost invisible. But inside him lived something more — a longing for freedom, self-expression, and the breaking of conventions.
He got his first tattoo after turning 40. Then came the first piercing. Then the second. And so began a journey that would eventually lead to a world record.
“I did it for me”: Meet the man with 516 body modifications
Rolf Buchholz (Germany) is 62 years old and holds two world records: most piercings, single count (male), as verified in 2010, and most body modifications (male) as verified in 2012.
He totalled 516 body modifications, among which there are several implants and 481 piercings (278 alone on his genitals), but the number has increased over the years.
Some of Rolf’s body alterations include:
- Several piercings on his ears, eyebrows and mouth
- A split tongue
- Tattooed eyes
- Subdermal implants in his arms and chest
- Magnetic subdermal implants on his fingers
“A lot of people think I’m the devil, but I don’t believe in the devil.” – Rolf Buchholz
Rolf, who studied computer science and works for a telephone company in Germany, started getting tattoos and piercings at the end of 1999, more than twenty years ago at the age of forty.
“I started with the body modifications because I liked them,” Rolf explains.
“They were fun, so I started doing more and more.
“One day, I saw I could break the record because I met other record holders and realized I had more piercings than them.”
Rolf’s modifications are certainly attention-grabbing, but some more than others kindle the interest of the audience.
“I think my most famous body modifications are my horn implants. They are really big,” Rolf says, touching the two subdermal horn-shaped implants on his forehead.
“Other than that I have a lot of implants, as you can see, on the arms and on the back of my hand. I also have a star under my chest.”
As Rolf explains, he has 35 total implants all made of medical grade silicone.
Among them, he counts several subdermal spheres on his arms, 6 genital beadings, magnetic implants on each fingertip of his right hand and a flexible rhombus on the back of his hand.
“Does it hurt? That’s the question people ask me in every language.”
But Rolf insists that they don’t hurt at all, tugging and moving them around to demonstrate this.
One of Rolf’s most curious alterations is having magnetic subdermal implants in his fingertips. Though this gives Rolf a great party trick, with the ability to attach small metal objects to his fingers, but can sometimes interfere with his electronic devices.
“I have magnets on the tips of my fingers. Sometimes, if I press the wrong part on an iPad it switches off, because they also use magnets to switch it on and off.”
Every single modification changed something of Rolf’s appearance, it brought him a record and international fame, but it didn’t change him.
He did everything because he wanted to, to experiment with his body like an artwork, and today he stands proudly in front of a camera to showcase his many body alterations.
Rolf was most recently featured on the 2022 series of the Italian TV show Lo Show Dei Record, guest-starring on an episode that aired on 7 March 2022.
There Rolf explained to Scotti, the show’s host, about his inspirations, interests and motivations for his alternative look.
He also shared that he has a girlfriend, who is passionate about tattoos and body alteration just like him.
“My body modifications changed everything of my outside, but they didn’t change me. I’m the same person.”
Rolf didn’t get his tattoos or body modifications for shock-value: his body is an expression of himself and his view on life, and he’s done what made him happy.
“I did it for me,” he explains simply.