Meet Armin Meiwes, The German Cannibal Who Placed An Online Ad To Eat Someone — And Someone Answered

 Meet Armin Meiwes, The German Cannibal Who Placed An Online Ad To Eat Someone — And Someone Answered

"Blood is the juice of life. It contains everything a person needs for nutrition."

In 2001, Armin Meiwes killed and feasted on a willing victim at his home in Rotenburg, Germany who he met through an online ad he placed looking for someone to be eaten. 

And once he was done, he butchered the man's body and stored it in freezer bags in a secret compartment in his kitchen refrigerator for the next 20 months.

 In total, Meiwes consumed more than 44 pounds of human flesh and even tried to grind his bones into flour. 

But eventually, the meat began to run out, so Meiwes returned online to find a new victim. This time, however, a college student alerted the police to the ads.

When they raided Meiwes' home, they uncovered his first victims' remains along with a four-hour-long videotape of the initial encounter — only 19 minutes of which were played at his trial because the rest was deemed "too disturbing to show."

Go inside the disturbing story of the German cannibal who feasted on his willing victim for nearly two years

Known as the "Rotenburg Cannibal," Armin Meiwes killed and ate a willing victim named Bernd Brandes in 2001 before storing the leftovers for 20 months in a hidden freezer.

Armin Meiwes spent much of his youth devouring German fairy tales. He was particularly fond of Hansel and Gretel and its evil witch who abducted two children to fatten them up for slaughter. With a lifelong urge to eat somebody himself, Meiwes found a willing participant online who agreed to have his penis cut off and eaten.

The macabre incident in March 2001 left Germany in shock — and Meiwes infamous as the “Rotenburg Cannibal.” Meiwes was a computer repair technician who mowed his neighbor’s lawn, helped friends fix their cars, and hosted charming dinner parties. Abandoned by his father as a boy, however, he became obsessed with serial killers — and desperate to taste human flesh.

When his mother died, the 39-year-old placed an ad on a now-defunct forum called The Cannibal Cafe for a “young, well-built man who wanted to be eaten.”

And after 43-year-old engineer Bernd Brandes replied with interest, Meiwes agreed. So Brandes left his home in Berlin for Meiwes’ house in Rotenburg and took 20 sleeping pills to dull the pain of the amputation.

“The first bite was, of course, very strange,” Meiwes said in a 2016 interview with The Independent. “It was a feeling I can’t really describe. I’d spent over 40 years longing for it, dreaming about it. And now I was getting the feeling that I was actually achieving this perfect inner connection through his flesh. The flesh tastes like pork but stronger.”

The Rotenburg Cannibal Devours His Victim

Armin Meiwes and Bernd Brandes continued exchanging passionate messages online until March 9, when Brandes took the day off work. He had sold all his personal belongings, including a sports car, and erased his hard drive before the big day. He bought a one-way ticket to Kassel, where Meiwes was waiting to drive him to his house.

After stopping at a pharmacy for painkillers, the men arrived at Meiwes’ house and had sex. Brandes briefly backed out of the agreement but then swallowed 20 sleeping pills, cough syrup, and a bottle of schnapps to go through with it. Meiwes made sure to videotape the ordeal, with Brandes saying, “Now do it.”

State officials and bold internet sleuths have only seen what happened next. First, Armin Meiwes tried satisfying Brandes’ request to bite the penis off but failed. He then used a kitchen knife and tried feeding it to Brandes but it was too tough to chew. Meiwes then fried it with salt, pepper, wine, and garlic — and Brandes’ own fat.

Ultimately, Bernd Brandes only managed to gulp down one bite. His continuous blood loss was so extreme that he went in and out of consciousness. After accidentally burning the penis, Meiwes ground it up and fed it to his dog. He then drew Brandes a bath and left to read a Star Trek book, checking on Brandes every 15 minutes.

While cannibalism wasn’t a crime in Germany at the time, murder was. Meiwes prayed for Brandes to regain consciousness, but then he stabbed him in the throat — killing him. Meiwes hung his body on a meat hook to drain, dismembered it on a butcher’s block, and placed his flesh in meal-sized portions in his freezer.

“I decorated the table with nice candles,” said Meiwes of his first meal. “I took out my best dinner service, and fried a piece of rump steak — a piece from his back — made what I call princess potatoes, and sprouts. After I prepared my meal, I ate it.”