Almost there!
I have now reprogrammed my (ESP-based) sensor by deleting the battery voltage unit in the source code.
I also had to clean mosquitto DB according to this tutorial
In mosquitto, I read
openhabian@openhabHost:~ $ mosquitto_sub -v -t homie/esp_gateway/kidsBedroomTH/battery/#
homie/esp_gateway/kidsBedroomTH/battery/$name Battery
homie/esp_gateway/kidsBedroomTH/battery/$datatype float
homie/esp_gateway/kidsBedroomTH/battery 4.08
I am now able to link this channel to the existing equipment and getting voltage (w/o unit) and battery level (in %) right.
Thanks!
Max