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The Cannibal Who Put An Internet Ad To Eat Someone — And Someone Responded.

Armin Meiwes, often known as the "Rotenburg Cannibal," murdered and ate a consenting victim called Bernd Brandes in 2001 before preserving the remains in a concealed freezer for 20 months.

By Victoria VelkovaPublished about a year ago 6 min read
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Armin Meiwes spent a lot of his childhood reading German fairy tales. He was particularly fond to Hansel and Gretel, as well as the bad witch who kidnapped two youngsters in order to fatten them up for murder. Meiwes, who had a longstanding desire to eat someone, located a willing participant online who agreed to have his penis cut off and eaten.

The grisly crime in March 2001 shocked Germany, and Meiwes became known as the "Rotenburg Cannibal." Meiwes was a computer repair professional who tended his neighbor's grass, fixed his friends' automobiles, and had delightful dinner parties. Nevertheless, after being abandoned by his father as a child, he grew infatuated with serial killers – and longed to eat human flesh.

When his mother died, the 39-year-old posted an ad on The Cannibal Café for a "young, well-built male who wanted to be devoured."

Meiwes agreed when engineer Bernd Brandes, 43, responded with curiosity. So Brandes departed Berlin for Meiwes' residence in Rotenburg and took 20 sleeping pills to ease the pain of the amputation.

"Of course, the first taste was really weird," Meiwes remarked in a 2016 interview with The Independent. "That was a feeling I can't quite put into words. I'd waited for it for nearly 40 years, fantasizing about it. And now I had the impression that I was obtaining this perfect inner connection through his body. The meat has a greater flavor than pork."

How Armin Meiwes Got Known As "The Rotenburg Cannibal"

Armin Meiwes was born in Essen, Germany on December 1, 1961. Despite having two half-brothers on his father's side, Meiwes was abandoned by the patriarch and his two favored children when he was five years old. Waltraud Meiwes, his single mother, raised him in a 44-room farmhouse, where he got obsessed with true crime and sexual taboos.

He remembers suffering as the new "man of the family," and as a child, he considered devouring his peers. To share his cannibalistic views with someone, Meiwes created a fictitious sibling named Franky. According to The Irish Times, his obsession continued throughout adulthood, but it reached a boiling point when his mother died in 1999.

Meiwes now had complete control of the vast estate and spent an entire year researching serial killer biographies. His desires only increased as he discovered a "second life" with like-minded people online.

Armin Meiwes used the aliases "Antrophagus" or "Franky" on The Cannibal Café to identify gay males with cannibalistic fantasies. When Meiwes met with numerous guys in hotel rooms to role-play the act, none of them volunteered to perform it. According to The Daily Mail, Meiwes even turned down one man who wanted to be beaten to death.

But, on March 6, 2001, he talked with a member named "Cator99," who indicated he wanted his penis eaten off and killed. Bernd Jürgen Brandes, a Siemens engineer, was that user, and he was ready to be butchered. According to Harper's, he accepted to Meiwes' plan, which included the following:

"After you're dead, I'll take you out and carefully cut you up. There won't be much of you left save for a set of knees and some fleshy junk (skin, cartilage, tendons)... I'll dry them out and grind them up shortly... Hopefully, you will not be the last. I've already thought of picking up a young child from the street."

Cannibal Rotenburg Devours His Victim

Bernd Brandes and Armin Meiwes continued to exchange impassioned messages online until March 9, when Brandes took the day off. Before the big day, he had sold all of his personal goods, including a sports vehicle, and deleted his hard drive. He purchased a one-way ticket to Kassel, where Meiwes would meet him and transport him to his residence.

The men had intercourse at Meiwes' residence after stopping at a drugstore for pills. Brandes temporarily backed out of the deal, but then ingested 20 sleeping pills, cough syrup, and a bottle of schnapps to keep it going. Meiwes made a point of filming the suffering, with Brandes suggesting, "Now do it."

Only what occurred afterwards has been witnessed by state officials and daring internet sleuths. Initially, Armin Meiwes attempted but failed to fulfill Brandes' order to bite the penis off. He next attempted feeding Brandes with it after using a kitchen knife, but it was too difficult to eat. Meiwes then cooked it in Brandes' own fat with salt, pepper, wine, and garlic.

Bernd Brandes could only eat one mouthful. His blood loss was so severe that he drifted in and out of consciousness. Meiwes crushed up his penis after unintentionally burning it and served it to his dog. He then drew Brandes a bath and went to read a Star Trek novel, checking up on him every 15 minutes.

While cannibalism was not a felony in Germany at the time, murder was. Meiwes prayed for Brandes to recover consciousness before stabbing him in the throat and murdering him. Meiwes hanged his corpse to drain, dissected it on a butcher's block, and stored his flesh in meal-sized quantities in his freezer.

"I set the table with wonderful candles," Meiwes recounted of his first supper. "I pulled out my nicest dinner set, and fried a piece of rump steak — a slice off his back — cooked what I call princess potatoes, and sprouts. "I ate my supper after I cooked it."

How Armin Meiwes Was Imprisoned

Armin Meiwes followed through on his promise to Bernd Brandes by burying his skull and other inedible body parts in the garden. The Rotenburg Cannibal ate 44 pounds of his flesh over the following 20 months. Meiwes had also videotaped the whole four-hour mutilation, which police would use as evidence in one of Germany's most horrifying post-war prosecutions.

Meiwes was apprehended on December 10, 2002. He kept looking for victims online until an Austrian student reported him to the authorities. As they broke into his house, they discovered a fake bottom in his freezer as well as pounds of meat. While Meiwes claimed it was wild boar meat, the officers also discovered video of his murder.

NBC reports that despite the fact that his offenses showed insanity and Meiwes was diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder, he was found fit to face trial. Armin Meiwes was convicted of manslaughter on January 30, 2004, after the procedures began on December 3, 2003. He became a vegetarian after being sentenced to eight years and six months in jail.

As prosecutors claimed that Armin Meiwes should have been prosecuted for murder, a German court retried him in April 2005. Meiwes, who was condemned to life in jail on May 10, 2006, has lately been allowed to roam the streets in disguise as part of his rehabilitation.

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About the Creator

Victoria Velkova

With a passion for words and a love of storytelling.

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