Three of the world's tallest people – including 2,51-metre Sultan Kösen from Turkey, the world's tallest man – are in Germany on Tuesday to visit the specialist shoemaker who helps make their lives bearable.

“I'm a normal person, just a bit bigger,” 33-year-old Kösen said as he visited Georg Wessels, the specialist outsize shoemaker based in Vreden, near Münster in north-west Germany, to collect his size 60 footwear.

Kösen adds that he used to rarely leave the house for fear of being laughed at in the street.

But since he has been an official entry in the Guinness World Records, he's more likely to be cheered and asked for autographs than mocked, he said.

Part of the reason for his new-found freedom is also thanks to Wessels, who has produced 500 pairs of shoes for the world's tallest people over the last 30 years – even for free, if they can't afford it themselves.

On Tuesday, two more of the world's loftiest inhabitants turned up for their new footwear, Moroccan Brahim Takioullah (2,46 metres) and Abdramane Dembele from Ivory Coast (2,32 metres).

bbabo.Net