The Cannibal Who Placed An Online Ad To Eat Someone
And Someone Answered
During his youth Armin Meiwes was obssessed with the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel and its evil witch who abducted two children to fatten them to eat. With a lifelong urge to eat somebody himself, Meiwes found a willing participant in 43-year-old Bernd Brandes online after he placed an ad on a now-defunct forum called The Cannibal Cafe for a “young, well-built man who wanted to be eaten.”
Armin Meiwes was born on December 1, 1961, in Essen, Germany. Despite having two half-brothers from his father’s side, Meiwes was abandoned by his father and his father’s favored children when he was just five years old. He was raised in a 44-room farmhouse by his single mother, Waltraud Meiwes, and developed an obsession with true crime.
As a schoolboy, Meiwes struggled with his new role as the “man of the house” and it was during this time he first contemplated cannibalizing his classmates. He created an imaginary brother named Franky to confide his cannibalistic thoughts. This fascination continued into adulthood, intensifying after his mother’s death in 1999.
With the vast property now entirely under his control, Meiwes spent a year immersing himself in serial killer biographies. His urges grew stronger, fueled by his interactions with like-minded individuals…
