Berlin police on Wednesday released photos of an English-speaking teenage boy who wandered into the city nine months ago, saying he had been living for the last five years in the forest with his father.

Police spokesman Thomas Neuendorf said all attempts to identify the boy since he emerged in the German capital on Sept 5 have been unsuccessful, and they are now hoping the release of his photo may produce some leads.

"We have checked his DNA against all missing person reports, sent the data to Interpol so that they could check it internationally, but unfortunately without any success," Neuendorf said.