– Armin Meiwes Once Brandes started to feel the effects of the drugs and liquor consumed, Meiwes set up a video camera and began to record the horrendous acts that were about to take place. Meiwes started by sexually mutilating Brandes. He first cut off his penis. 578 likes 1 talking about this. Armin Meiwes page.

• Armin Meiwes Video Footage
• Armin Meiwes Video Original

Video images of mutilation and execution flickered in a darkened German courtroom yesterday, as cannibal Armin Meiwes’s grisly home movie was played for the first time. The video chronicling the end of Bernd Juergen Brandes, a computer expert, was screened for judges, lawyers, the cannibal himself and lay observers. Kannibalen von Rotenburg, Armin Meiwes, besorgen? Ich w rde gerne sehen, wie er den Bernd schlachtet. W rde auch GUT zahlen. Wer k nnte mir das Video als Datei f r den VLC-Player besorgen?

'Mein Teil' (German for 'My part' or 'My share', slang for 'My penis') is a song by German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein. It was released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Reise, Reise (2004), on 26 July 2004. 'Mein Teil' attracted controversy in Germany; the media dubbed it 'Das Kannibalenlied' ('The Cannibal-Song') due to its lyrics referring to the Armin Meiwes cannibalism case, which helped to boost it to second place in the German music charts after its release in early August 2004. It was also a number-one hit in Spain. Remixes of the song were done by Arthur Baker and Pet Shop Boys. 'Mein Teil' was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 48th Grammy Awards but lost to Slipknot's 'Before I Forget'.^[1]

Background and composition[edit]

The song is inspired by the case of Armin Meiwes and Bernd Jürgen Armando Brandes. In March 2001, in Rotenburg an der Fulda, the two men aged in their 40s met each other, cut off and cooked Brandes' penis and consumed it together. Afterwards, Meiwes killed Brandes — with Brandes' permission — and ate his remains. As a result, Meiwes was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail for manslaughter, but was later charged with murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. According to bassist Oliver 'Ollie' Riedel, the song came about after 'one of our members brought a newspaper to rehearsal and it had a story about the cannibal guy in it. We were fascinated, shocked and amused at the same time'. Vocalist Till Lindemann stated, 'It is so sick that it becomes fascinating and there just has to be a song about it'.^[2] A prominent phrase in the song is '... denn du bist, was du isst, und ihr wisst, was es ist' ('Because you are what you eat, and you (pl.) know what it is').

Music video[edit]

The video for 'Mein Teil' was directed by Zoran Bihac. It shows Christoph 'Doom' Schneider being cross-dressed as Armin Meiwes's mother, Till receiving oral sex by an angel (played by Luciana Regina) before he eats her wings and kills her; 'Flake' performing ballet in a hallucinatory state; Paul shaking, screaming violently and wandering around the set in a frantic and crazed state; Richard violently fighting with his doppelgänger; Ollie writhing on the floor in painful spasms with his skin covered in white powder; the band fighting in a mudpit; and five of the band members, while behaving like dogs, crawling out of the Deutsche Oper U-Bahn (subway) station while held on leashes carried by 'Doom'. At the beginning of the song in the video, the phrase 'Suche gut gebauten Achtzehn- bis Dreißigjährigen zum Schlachten – Der Metzgermeister' ('Looking for a well built 18-year-old to 30-year-old to slaughter – The Master Butcher') is spoken, voiced by Ollie, although the album version of the song does not have this beginning. The quote is taken from an online post by Armin Meiwes. The controversy over 'Mein Teil' prompted MTV Germany to restrict the airing of the music video to after 11 PM.

Live performances[edit]

It debuted in three consecutive concerts for members of the fan club, in October 2004. This song is one of the most notable live performances of the 2004–2005 Reise, Reise tour. From the central backstage access, Till Lindemann appears pulling a giant cooking pot. He is dressed as a blood-stained chef holding a microphone with a large, real cooking knife attached to the end. Keyboardist Christian 'Flake' Lorenz appears in the pot, with metal cylinders attached to his arms and legs, and plays the keyboard during the song. After the second chorus, Till takes a flamethrower and roasts the bottom of the pot, 'cooking' Flake. Flake escapes from the pot and starts running around the stage with flames erupting from his arms and legs, while chased by a knife-wielding Till.

When Flake was asked about what it is like to perform this, he said: 'It is fine. It is only pain. Although one can not breathe in, because then one would inhale the flames and die'. Due to all of the theatrical performance, the song usually extended to 6 or 7 minutes when played live. It was played at every concert of the Ahoi Tour, but was dropped on the Liebe ist für alle da Tour, a move which irritated many fans. However, it returned to playlist for the Latin American leg of the tour in 2010, the Auckland and Perth legs of the Big Day Out festival and the South African leg of the tour in 2011, all replacing 'Ich tu dir weh' except on the Brazllian leg of the South America tour, where both songs were played'. The song has since returned to the playlist of the Made in Germany 1995–2011 concert tour. They dropped the live performance again in 2016, until 2019, when it was included in the setlist for their Europe Stadium Tour.

Track listing[edit]

5' CD single

1. 'Mein Teil' (Single Version) – 4:23
2. 'Mein Teil' (You Are What You Eat Edit) Remix by Pet Shop Boys – 4:07
3. 'Mein Teil' (Return to New York Buffet Mix) Remix by Arthur Baker – 7:22
4. 'Mein Teil' (There Are No Guitars on This Mix) Remix by Pet Shop Boys – 7:20

• The Australian edition also features the 'Mein Teil' video.

3' CD single

1. 'Mein Teil' (Single Version) – 4:23
2. 'Mein Teil' (You Are What You Eat Edit) Remix by Pet Shop Boys – 4:07

• Also released as a 2-track 5' CD single.

2 x 12' vinyl single (limited to 1000 copies)

1. 'Mein Teil' (You Are What You Eat Mix) Remix by Pet Shop Boys – 6:45
2. 'Mein Teil' (You Are What You Eat Instrumental Mix) Remix by Pet Shop Boys – 7:00
3. 'Mein Teil' (The Return to New York Buffet Mix) Remix by Arthur Baker – 7:22
4. 'Mein Teil' (The Return to New York Buffet Instrumental Mix) Remix by Arthur Baker – 7:23

Charts[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^48th Grammy Awards - 2006. Rock on the Net. Accessed 2 July 2009.
2. ^Agence France-Presse (29 August 2004). German rock band's 'part' song tells of cannibals' repast. Taipei Times. Accessed 2 July 2009.
3. ^Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia’s Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 229.
4. ^http://www.austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Rammstein&titel=Pussy&cat=s^{[permanent dead link]}
5. ^Danish Charts
6. ^Suomen virallinen lista
7. ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 14 October 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. ^http://www.mediabiz.de/musik/news/charts-kw-41-madonna-und-rammstein-vorn/280182
9. ^'Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ' (in Hungarian). Dance Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
10. ^'Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ' (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
11. ^'Spanishcharts.com – Rammstein – Mein Teil'Canciones Top 50. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
12. ^'Swedishcharts.com – Rammstein – Mein Teil'. Singles Top 100. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
13. ^http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Rammstein&titel=Pussy&cat=s^{[permanent dead link]}
14. ^UK Singles ChartArchived 14 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
15. ^'Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts'. GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 11 December 2019.

Citations[edit]

1. 'Strange tastes', Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia), 24 October 2004
2. 'German cannibal inspires hard rockers Rammstein to new hit', Agence France Presse, 27 August 2004
3. 'Shock'n'roll Circus', The Times (London), 29 January 2005

External links[edit]

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
• 'Mein Teil' at Discogs (list of releases)

Armin Meiwes (German: [ˈmaɪvəs]; born 1 December 1961) is a German former computer repair technician who achieved international attention for killing and eating a voluntary victim in 2001, whom he had found via the Internet. After Meiwes and the victim jointly attempted to eat the victim's severed penis, Meiwes killed his victim and proceeded to eat a large amount of his flesh.^[1] He was arrested in December 2002. In January 2004, Meiwes was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years and six months in prison. In a retrial in May 2006, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Because of his acts, Meiwes is also known as the Rotenburg Cannibal or Der Metzgermeister (The Master Butcher).

Biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

Armin Meiwes was born on 1 December 1961, the only child of Waltrud Meiwes (1922–1999). He had two older half-brothers from his father's previous relationship with another woman. His father abandoned Armin when he was eight, leaving him to be raised by his mother. During sessions with police experts, Meiwes had explained that his desire for cannibalism related to the fairytale Hansel and Gretel had developed during his adolescent years. He had also described himself feeling 'very lonesome' after 'the family had fallen apart'.

Killing and cannibalism[edit]

Looking for a willing volunteer, Meiwes posted an advertisement on the then-active website The Cannibal Cafe (a defunct forum for people with a cannibalism fetish). Meiwes's advertisement stated that he was 'looking for a normally-built 18- to 25-year-old to be slaughtered and then consumed.'^[2] Bernd Jürgen Armando Brandes, an engineer from Berlin, answered the advertisement in March 2001. Many other people responded to the advertisement but backed out; Meiwes did not attempt to force them to do anything against their will.^[3][4][5]

The two made a videotape when they met on 9 March 2001 in Meiwes's home, in the small town of Wüstefeld, west of Rotenburg an der Fulda, showcasing Meiwes amputating Brandes's penis (with his agreement) and the two men attempting to eat it together. Before doing so, Brandes swallowed twenty sleeping pills, and a bottle of cough syrup, likely causing an effect of slowed breathing and extreme tiredness. Brandes initially insisted that Meiwes attempted to bite his penis off. This did not work, and ultimately, Meiwes used a knife to remove it. Brandes apparently tried to eat some of his own penis raw but could not, because it was too tough and, as he put it, 'chewy'. Meiwes then fried the penis in a pan with salt, pepper, wine, and garlic; he then fried it with some of Brandes's fat, but by then it was too burnt to be consumed. He then chopped the penis up into chunks and fed it to his dog.^[1] According to court officials who saw the video (which has not been made public), Brandes may already have been too weakened from blood loss to eat any of his penis.

Meiwes then ran Brandes a bath, before going to read a Star Trek book, while checking on Brandes every fifteen minutes, during which time Brandes lay bleeding in the bath. Brandes continued to drift in and out of consciousness before finally collapsing again. After long hesitation and prayer, Meiwes killed Brandes by stabbing him in the throat, after which he hung the body on a meat hook. The incident was recorded on a four-hour videotape. Meiwes dismembered and ate the corpse over the next ten months, storing body parts in his freezer under pizza boxes and consuming up to 20 kilograms (44 lb) of the flesh. According to prosecutors, Meiwes committed the act for sexual pleasure.^[6][7]

Arrest, trial and manslaughter conviction[edit]

Meiwes was arrested in December 2002, when a college student alerted authorities to new advertisements for victims online.^[8][9] Investigators searched his home and found body parts and the videotape of the killing.^[9]

On 30 January 2004, Meiwes was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years and six months in prison.^[10] The case attracted considerable media attention.^[11]

When speaking to a German newspaper, Meiwes admitted cannibalising Brandes and expressed regret for his actions. He added he wants to write a biography with the aim of deterring anyone wanting to follow in his footsteps. Websites dedicated to Meiwes started appearing after his 2002 arrest, with people advertising for willing victims. 'They should go for treatment, so it doesn't escalate like it did with me,' said Meiwes. While in prison, Meiwes has since become a vegetarian.^[12] He believes there are about 800 cannibals in Germany.^[11]

Retrial and murder conviction[edit]

In April 2005, a German court ordered a retrial after prosecutors appealed Meiwes's sentence, arguing that he should have been convicted of murder^[13] because he killed for sexual gratification, a motive proved by his having videotaped the crime.^[14] The court ruled that the original trial had ignored the significance of the video in disproving the argument that Meiwes only killed because he had been asked to kill.^[14]

At his retrial, a psychologist stated that Meiwes could reoffend, as he 'still had fantasies about devouring the flesh of young people.'^[15] On 10 May 2006, a court in Frankfurt convicted Meiwes of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment.^[16]

Cultural impact[edit]

Films[edit]

• Grimm Love (German title: Rohtenburg; 2006), a feature film directed by Martin Weisz and starring Keri Russell, was banned in Germany after Meiwes complained that his personality rights had been violated.^[17] The ban was subsequently lifted by Germany's highest civil court after an appeal.^[18] The film won multiple awards at the 2006 Festival de Cine de Sitges, including Best Director, Best Actor for the two male leads, and Best Cinematography.
• Cannibal (2006) is a direct-to-videohorror film based on Meiwes and Brandes, though the characters do not have names; referred only as 'The Man' and 'The Flesh'. The film was directed and produced by Marian Dora and stars actors Carsten Frank, Victor Brandl and Manoush. The film was banned in Germany.^[19]

Other films based on the case include: Rosa von Praunheim's Dein Herz in Meinem Hirn (Your Heart in My Brain) and Ulli Lommel's Diary of a Cannibal.

The plot of Australian thriller Feed (2006) bears many similarities to the case.

Music[edit]

Armin Meiwes Video Footage

• The German industrial metal band Rammstein released the song 'Mein Teil' in 2004, which specifically references the Meiwes case. MTV Germany restricted airing the video to after 11:00 p.m.^[20]
• The rock musician Marilyn Manson has identified Meiwes as an inspiration in the titling of his album Eat Me, Drink Me.^[21]
• The Swedish death metal band Bloodbath wrote the song 'Eaten', which voices Brandes' desire to be eaten alive, all while witnessing the act.
• The Chicago-based death metal band Macabre wrote a song about Meiwes called 'The Wüstenfeld Man-Eater'.
• The heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne released his 12th studio album, Ordinary Man, on 21 February 2020. The album includes a song titled 'Eat Me', which was inspired by Armin Meiwes.^[22]

Television[edit]

• Season 2, Episode 3 of the sitcom The IT Crowd, titled 'Moss and the German', parodies the Meiwes case. The character Maurice Moss, thinking he is answering an advert for a German cookery course, ends up in the house of an aspiring German cannibal, where the error is revealed, the fault lying with the man's poor grasp of the English language when writing the advert.
• In the American sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine the character Jake Peralta makes friends with a cannibal in prison, named Caleb. In Season 6, Episode 17, Jake arrests a murderer that he found through a cannibal forum that Caleb recommended.
• In 2008, MORE Music and Media released the four-hour interview and documentary from RTL Extra on DVD as Der Kannibale von Rotenburg; it was released in the UK as Armin Meiwes: The Cannibal.^[23]
• An episode of the British medical documentary Body Shock entitled The Man Who Ate His Lover discusses the case in detail.
• In season 4, episode 4 of the British comedy series Peep Show, titled 'Handyman', main character Mark warns Jeremy that something bad is going to happen if Jeremy continues working for The Orgazoid, mentioning that he might 'invite a German off the internet to eat him'.
• Season 1, episode 1 of the TV series Rake, titled 'R.V. Murray', features an accused cannibal who eats his volunteer in similar circumstances to the Meiwes case.^[24] Also, season 1, episode 4 of the 2014 American remake of Rake, titled 'Cannibal', features an accused cannibal.^[25]
• An episode of Hannibal had the character of Mason Verger refer to the incident after interrupting the title character's attempt to murder Will Graham; specifically, Hannibal cutting open Will's skull to consume his brain: 'You boys remind me of that German cannibal who advertised for a friend and then ate him—and his penis—before he died. Tragedy being the penis was overcooked. Go to all that trouble to eat a friend and you overcook his penis! They ate it anyway. They had to. They committed. But they didn't enjoy it.'^[26]
• In an August 2016 episode of the Pitchfork series 'Over/Under', guest Eric Andre makes reference to Meiwes. 'I want to see an episode where Wile E. Coyote violently, savagely, tears Road Runner apart... Eats him alive, you know, cuts his dick off and barbecues it and eats it like that German computer technician did to that guy he found on Craigslist.'^[27]
• American sitcom 30 Rock referenced the case in the seventh-season episode 'A Goon's Deed in a Weary World'. The character Pete Hornberger (played by Scott Adsit), laments dwindling advertisers on his show. He says that the only advertiser they have left is a German guy who wants to eat someone but 'even Gunter's having doubts.'
• In the season 2 episode 'Hungry' of the American anthology series Room 104,^[28] two men meet in a hotel room to eat each other's penises. The men, Gene (Mark Proksch) and Dan (Kent Osborne), are interrupted while eating Dan's penis by the police after a concerned call from Dan's wife. After an explanation of the consent given and plan to seek medical attention shortly, the men continue to prepare for the second course (Gene's penis) as the episode ends.
• In the TV show Succession (season 2, episode 8), when Roman is having a discussion with Gerry, he mentions 'you eat me, I eat you, like they do in Germany.'^{[citation needed]}

Theatre[edit]

• In 2014, TASTE, an award-winning play inspired by the case, premiered in Los Angeles at the Sacred Fools Theater Company. The play was written by Screenwriter Benjamin Brand and directed by Stuart Gordon. The production was nominated for various awards from all of the major Los Angeles theatrical critic organizations. The production starred Chris McKenna and Donal Thoms-Cappello, and was produced by Gordon, Dean Schramm, Ben Rock, and Adam Goldworm.^[29]
• In 2013, the short horror play Rotenburg by playwright Matthew Minnicino premiered at Boxed Wine Productions in New York City. The play follows the planned rendezvous of two lesbians based on Meiwes and Brandes.
• In 2017, the original musical MEIWES/BRANDES was chosen to be part of The Actors Centre's inaugural John Thaw Initiative. Written by RADA MA graduates Harriet Taylor, Scott Howland, Laura Dorn and Aurora Richardson, the piece uses correspondence between Meiwes and Brandes as well as verbatim court transcripts to recreate their meeting and tell a deeper story about love, pain, queer relationships and mental health.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^ab'The Man Who Ate His Lover'. Body Shock (Channel 4 TV, UK).
2. ^'German cannibal tells of fantasy'. BBC News. 3 December 2003. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
3. ^'Cannibal trial shocks Germany'. NBC World News.
4. ^'Cannibal trial reveals perverse intimacy'. theage.com.au.
5. ^Michael H. Stone & Gary Brucato. The New Evil: Understanding the Emergence of Modern Violent Crime (Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 2019), pp. 41-43.
6. ^'German 'cannibal' charged with murder'. BBC News. Europe.
7. ^Armin Meiwes: Interview with a Cannibal documentary sheds new light on one of Germany’s most infamous murderers. The Independent. Published 9 February 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
8. ^'German cannibal tells of fantasy'. BBC News. 3 December 2003. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
9. ^ ^ab'Dresden cannibal: German police worker 'obsessed' with cannibalism'. The Independent. 29 November 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
10. ^Phalnikar, Sonia (30 January 2004). 'Cannibal Convicted of Manslaughter'. Deutsche Welle (DW). Retrieved 23 March 2020.
11. ^ ^ab'German 'cannibal' tells of regret'. BBC News. Europe.
12. ^Jewkes, Yvonne; Yar, Majid (2013). Handbook of Internet Crime. Routledge. p. 376. ISBN9781134030590.
13. ^'German cannibal to face retrial'. 22 April 2005. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
14. ^ ^ab(www.dw.com), Deutsche Welle. 'German Cannibal Back on Trial | Germany | DW | 12.01.2006'. DW.COM. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
15. ^'BBC News: German cannibal guilty of murder', BBC
16. ^'NBC News: German court sentences cannibal to life in jail', NBC
17. ^Landler, Mark (4 March 2006). 'Cannibal Wins Ban of Film in Germany'. The New York Times. ISSN0362-4331. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
18. ^'German court lifts ban on cannibal movie'. msnbc.com. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
19. ^Cannibal at IMDb
20. ^Jewkes, Yvonne; Yar, Majid (7 March 2013). Handbook of Internet Crime. Routledge. ISBN9781134030590.
21. ^Dan Epstein. Feeding Frenzy, Revolver, reported by The HeirophantArchived 2007-03-28 at the Wayback Machine May 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
22. ^Hissong, Samantha (14 February 2020). 'Ozzy Osbourne's 'Ordinary Man' Album: 7 Things We Learned at SiriusXM Listening'. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
23. ^'Review zu Der Kannibale von Rotenburg bei DVD-Sucht'. dvd-sucht.de.
24. ^'Rake - Episodes & Video - ABC TV'. abc.net.au.
25. ^'Cannibal (Rake: Season 1, Episode 4)' at IMDb
26. ^Slezak, Michael (19 July 2015). 'Hannibal Recap: All About That Face'.
27. ^'Eric Andre Rates Jesus, Axl Rose, Snakes, More on 'Over/Under': Watch'. Pitchfork.
28. ^'Hungry (Room 104: Season 2, Episode 4)' at IMDb
29. ^'SACRED FOOLS - MAINSTAGE 2014 - Taste'. sacredfools.org.

External links[edit]

Armin Meiwes Video Original

• Profile: Cannibal Armin Meiwes. BBC News
• Cannibal film banned in Germany. BBC News
• Victim of cannibal agreed to be eaten. The Guardian