Speaking his mind – that’s what Jakob Maria Mierscheid is best known for. The SPD backbencher has been a member of the Bundestag since 1979 and over the past three decades he has frequently attracted attention with his quirky,unusual and often provocative comments.Interestingly,the 76 year old has never actually attended any of the sessions or debates. The retired tailor from the western German Hunsrück region is in fact a fictional character,created by two former SPD MPs,Karl Haehser and Peter Würtz. To mark Mierscheid's 30th anniversary,People and Politics went in search of the Phantom of the Bundestag.