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Even as a child, he didn't fit into the norm: "If you don't want to be anything, become like Titus," a teacher warned the boy's classmates, who simply couldn't sit still.
With such a background, it is perhaps only logical that Titus Dittmann would give up his secure job as a teacher in the mid-1980s to sell boards on four wheels from his living room.
Skateboards - back then, very few people had even heard of the new trend.
It all started with euphoria and entrepreneurial spirit.
Titus Dittmann imports trucks and boards from California and organizes local skate events.
But it wasn't long before the tranquil town of Münster, from where Titus built up his empire, became an international household name.
Dittmann is not the first on the German skateboard market, but he is the most successful: TITUS becomes a trend brand with sales in the millions.
And Dittmann becomes the "figurehead of a scene that doesn't like figureheads", as an article about him later puts it.
At the beginning of 2000, the company slips into a serious crisis.
The planned IPO falls through.
But the same applies to Titus Dittmann's life as it does to skateboarding: If you fall down, you have to get up again and try the trick again.
Initially, Titus Dittmann pledged all his possessions apart from his classic cars and then bought himself free from banks and investors in order to regain control of his own company.
Hard years followed, but the company has been in the black again since 2007.
Titus GmbH, Europe's largest supplier of skateboards and streetwear, is now firmly in the hands of his son Julius.
Brigitta Dittmann is one of three managing directors and is responsible for the finances.
For Titus Dittmann himself, however, at the age of 67, it is not yet time to retire: he is still skateboarding, teaches as a lecturer at the University of Münster and is active on four continents with his aid organization skate-aid.
Children learn to skate in crisis, war and developing regions.
True to Titus Dittmann's motto: Fall down, get up, keep going!
The documentary "Titus Dittmann - The Skateboard Pioneer" tells of the entrepreneur's courage and assertiveness, his rough edges, but also of the people he has relied on for decades.
We follow the unconventional go-getter back to his roots, to the small town of Kirchen an der Sieg.
It was here that Titus Dittmann met his future wife Brigitta, who has been running the company with him from the very beginning.
First broadcast: Friday, May 13, 2016 at 8:15 pm on WDR.
