The Rotenburg Cannibal
Armin Meiwes, known as the Rotenburg Cannibal, claimed that his fascination with cannibalism began during his adolescent years, sparked by the fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel.”
As a tech-savvy individual, Meiwes discovered online communities where people shared their fantasies about cannibalism and even their desire to be eaten. In March 2001, he posted an ad on the “Cannibal Cafe” forum, seeking a willing volunteer aged 18 to 25 to be slaughtered and consumed.
Bernd-Jurgen Armando Brandes, a 43-year-old microelectronics engineer from Berlin, responded to Meiwes’ ad, agreeing to be slaughtered and consumed. On March 9th, 2001, Brandes traveled to Meiwes’ home, where they videotaped the event to prove consent.
The gruesome act began with Brandes taking sleeping pills and cough syrup, followed by Meiwes cutting off Brandes’ penis, which they both attempted to eat but found too tough. Meiwes then fried some of Brandes’ body fat with seasonings, but overcooked the penis, ultimately feeding it to his dog.
As Brandes grew weak from blood loss, Meiwes ran a bath for him and checked on him periodically while reading a Star Trek book.
After a few hours, Meiwes stabbed Brandes in the throat, killing him. He then hung the body from a meat hook, beheaded and dismembered it, storing parts in his freezer and burying the head in his garden. Over the next 10 months, Meiwes consumed an estimated 44 pounds of Brandes’ flesh.
In July 2001, Meiwes attempted to lure another victim through online chat rooms. Although he met with five men, he did not kill them, presumably because they did not consent. A college student who had conversed with Meiwes, disturbed by their discussions, reported him to the authorities.
Police discovered human remains in Meiwes’ freezer and the incriminating four-hour video recording. When questioned, Meiwes admitted to consuming his victim with a bottle of South African red wine, using his best cutlery, and decorating the dinner table with candles.
He described the taste as similar to pork. The case of Armin Meiwes remains one of the most shocking and disturbing instances of consensual cannibalism in modern history.
What would cause someone to want to eat another person?
Are popular message boards and forums catering to cannibals?
What is up, Bizarros?! This week, we dive into the strange true story of the German Cannibal from Rotenburg.
Who Was The Rotenburg Cannibal?
Armin Meiwes was born in 1961 and was a German computer repair technician.
He had two older half-brothers on his father’s side, but his father left when he was eight years old, and he was raised by his mother.
His mother almost thought of Armin as a servant and would have him endlessly complete tasks and chores.
He was self-described as very lonesome. Around this time in adolescence, he started becoming very fixated on the Brothers Grimm fairytale, Hansel and Gretel.
This was the spark that led him to cannibalism.
Armin lived with his mother until his late thirties when she passed away.
Eventually, he moved to Wustefeld, Germany, in Rotenburg.
If you were to ask neighbors, co-workers, or people around him, they would have claimed that Armin was a very typical, normal, social man.
He kept to himself but also would help repair neighbors’ cars if needed and even occasionally mow their lawns.
They wouldn’t imagine that he would or could cause harm to anyone.
Meanwhile, Armin couldn’t shake that childhood fascination with cannibalism.
Later in life, Armin told authorities that he had fantasized about having a blond younger brother, who he could keep forever by consuming him.
During his free time after work, he frequently visited websites and forums that dealt with cannibalism and extreme fetishes.
He spent hours in chat rooms, talking to other individuals like him who dreamt day and night about consuming human flesh.
In fact, it was these types of forums that led him to finally attempt to pursue his dream.
How Armin Meiwes Became The Rotenburg Cannibal
He’s feeling the desire to consume a person. He’s already a computer guy, so he’s pretty tech-savvy, and he’s super involved in cannibal fetish subculture forums and chat rooms.
He was shocked to discover not only a community of people who fantasized about cannibalism but people who seemed keen on being eaten themselves.
Of course, none of them actually followed through with these dark fantasies in the cannibal chat.
But what if someone would?
So, Armin Meiwes had the bright idea to post a request in March of 2001 in what was called the Cannibal Cafe.
He read countless posts from people who wanted their bodies cut up and labeled like meat at the grocery store, people who wanted to be barbecued, and so on.
Armin, looking for a willing volunteer, makes a post stating that he was, quote:
“Looking for a well-built, 18 to 25 year old to be slaughtered and then consumed.”
Consensually, of course.
Enter Bernd-Jurgen Armando Brandes
Bernd Juergen Brandes, a 43-year-old engineer from Berlin, wasn’t quite in Armin’s desired age range.
Actually, taking a step back, believe it or not, many people responded to Armin’s ad, although all of them except Brandes backed out.
And that was no problem for Armin, he was dead set on not doing anything to anyone against their will.
The volunteer aspect was very important to him.
Brandes’ reply to Armin’s post was: I offer myself to you and will let you let you dine from life.
Unfortunately, there really isn’t much insight into Bernd Brandes’ mental state. Whether he had mental illness, depression, or any traumatic events that happened in his life.
We don’t really know.
What we do know, however, is that he seemingly had a normal life, had a live-in girlfriend, and, most importantly – he agreed to be slaughtered and consumed by Armin.
They had arranged for Brandes to travel to Armin on March 9th for the event, even getting into specifics on which body part Armin was going to consume first.
They decided that Armin would eat Brandes’ penis first.
So, here is an actual translated chat room transcript between Armin and Brandes.
Chat:
Cator99: Hallllooooo????
Antrophagus: Hi, Cator, what do you do professionally, that you are up so late at night?
Cator99: I can’t sleep well anymore because of our meeting
Antrophagus: That’s a sensible reason. Yesterday I was incredibly tired, it was a stressful day
Cator99: I’m in telecommunications
Antrophagus: Oh, that sounds interesting
Cator99: I believe you
Antrophagus: I’m looking forward to our meeting, it will definitely be really cool
Cator99: I want it to be! I hope it’ll be really cool. Are you setting an alarm clock?????
Antrophagus: It’s only a few days until March 9
Cator99: Still, I would have rather met you yesterday and felt your teeth
Antrophagus: One can’t have everything. There’s still some time before you really feel my teeth
Cator99: I hardly know what to expect. Have you slaughtered a man before?
Antrophagus: Unfortunately, only in my dreams, but in my thoughts, I do it every night
Cator99: So I’m the first? You have eaten human flesh before, or you haven’t?
Antrophagus: No, you don’t exactly find it in the supermarket, unfortunately
Cator99: How do you know if it will taste good to you, or that the blood won’t make you sick?
Antrophagus: I’m readying myself with my dreams. Once I was so excited, I grabbed a needle and drew my own blood so I could drink it
Cator99: And your blood, it tasted good to you?
Antrophagus: It was quite tasty. Once I was drilling some holes and the drill slipped right into my hand, that was a real treat. Blood is the juice of life. It contains everything a person needs for nutrition
Cator99: Then I hope you won’t wilt, that you can really see it through without a problem
Antrophagus: To bite into your penis will certainly not be easy—living flesh is somewhat more resistant than fried—but one thing is certain: our dream will be fulfilled
Cator99: But there’s not so much in it as there is in muscle
Antrophagus: Yeah, but the penis is principally a spongy material filled with blood
Cator99: For both our sakes, I hope that’s true. I hope you have also already thought about what’s to be done with the rest. Fulfilling the dream shouldn’t become a nightmare for you. No one will know where I’ve disappeared to
Antrophagus: After you’re dead, I’ll take you out and expertly carve you up. Except for a pair of knees and some fleshy trash (skin, cartilage, tendons), there won’t be much of you left
Cator99: There will be a good bit, like the knees, I hope you have a good hiding place for them
Antrophagus: I’ll dry out the knees and grind them up soon after
Cator99: Okay, they’re good as fertilizer, I heard that once. I see you’ve thought about it. Good! Sounds like I’m the first
Antrophagus: And you won’t be the last, hopefully. I’ve already considered catching a young person from the street, but I would rather kill only those who want to be killed
Cator99: That also doesn’t sound bad. But yeah, seeing as it’s not so totally legal, this is in my eyes better than yanking somebody directly off the street
Antrophagus: Exactly, I’d do it, if it were legal
The Real-Life Hannibal Lecter Eats His Victim
So, on March 9th, 2001, Brandes purchased a one-way ticket to visit Armin…
When they got to Armin’s home, they exchanged some simple pleasantries and then got down to business.
Armin had waited 40 years for this moment, and he wasn’t going to let another second slip by.
Apparently, Armin and Brandes decided to videotape this moment.
The 4-hour video recorded the grisly details and has never been published publically, however.
So, they started the video, and Armin had Brandes verbally consent to everything that was about to happen.
The first thing Brandes did was take about twenty sleeping pills and drink an entire bottle of cough syrup.
Next, because it had been the initial discussion, Brandes requested that Armin tries to bite off his penis.
However, Armin found it too difficult to bite through. So, he gave up and cut it off with a knife.
The gory details get even worse. It was still agreed upon that Brandes would be able to get involved too, so they both tried, and it claimed it was too “tough and chewy.”
So, they did what anyone would do. Armin cut off some fat from Brandes body, took it over to the stove, and fried it up with some salt, pepper, wine, and garlic.
However, with this being his first time cooking a penis and all, he left it on the stove for too long and it ended up burnt.
So, Armin gave it to his dog.
At this point, Brandes was becoming incredibly weak due to blood loss.
Armin ran Brandes a bath and then went to read a Star Trek book while Brandes soaked. Every 15 minutes or so, Armin would periodically check on Brandes and see how he was doing in the bathtub.
He was drifting in and out of consciousness.
After a few hours had passed, Armin set his Star Trek book down, said a long prayer, walked into the bathroom, and viciously stabbed Brandes in the throat.
Once Brandes’s body was lifeless, he took him and hung him from a meat hook.
Then, he beheaded Brandes, dismembered the corpse, and stored parts of his victim in the freezer.
He apparently buried his head behind his home in a garden.
And just as a reminder – this is all apparently captured on the four-hour-long video.
Over the next 10 months, it is estimated that Armin consumed about 44 pounds of Brandes cooked flesh.
Here is a quote from Armin:
“I always had the fantasy, and in the end, I fulfilled it. I fried a piece of rump steak, a piece from his back. With every bite, my memory of him grew stronger.”
The Rotenburg Cannibal Is Caught
In July of 2001, Armin had found his way back to his chat rooms to try and lure another victim to consensually allow him to eat them.
He ended up meeting with 5 other men but did not kill them.
One individual who connected with Armin’s online ad was a college student who was disturbed by the conversations he had with Armin.
He smooth-talked Armin enough just to get some information from him.
Then, he called the authorities on Armin.
Eventually, the police showed up at Armin’s door.
They found human remains stored in his freezer and the four-hour home video he took, which was… pretty incriminating.
Imagine finding that tape and watching it. It would put that video from The Ring to shame.
When they asked what he did to Brandes, Armin replied that he:
“Had consumed his victim with a bottle of South African red wine, had got out his best cutlery, and decorated his dinner table with candles. He tasted of pork.”
The Trial Of Armin Meiwes
We won’t go too much into the nitty gritty of this, this isn’t law and order or a true crime podcast.
Armin was officially arrested in December 2002.
Despite the clear-cut evidence of manslaughter, the case proved problematic because it was discovered that cannibalism was not illegal in Germany.
So, instead of cannibalism, they decided to charge Armin with murder for the purposes of sexual pleasure and disturbing the peace of the dead.
Armin’s rebuttal was that the victim completely agreed to be killed and eaten, and he had video proof.
Additionally, Armin was deemed a schizoid personality but deemed fit enough to stand trial.
Regardless, Armin was sentenced to 8 years and 6 months in prison.
A retrial occurred in 2006, where the authorities secured a murder conviction, and the cannibal killer was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Apparently, as of now, Armin is an advocate for people with mental illness to receive treatment, works laundry in prison, attends church, and has become a vegetarian.
The Crazy True Story Of Armin Meiwes’ Unspeakable Crime
What do you think, Bizarros?
This is one of the most disturbing stories and definitely different than most of our usual topics.
The Rotenburg Cannibal is one of the most creepy stories and a cautionary tale to stay off of cannibal forums.