'Tasted Like Pork': This German Cannibal Ate Friend's Body For 10 Months

Last Updated:June 04, 2025, 17:02 IST

What took place on the night of March 9 defies belief. The two men reportedly had sex before the victim voluntarily consumed a mix of sleeping pills and schnapps

Armin Meiwes long harboured fantasies of cannibalism, reportedly since childhood. (Shutterstock)

It began with a chilling online advertisement and ended with one of the most horrifying criminal cases in the history of Germany. In 2001, Armin Meiwes, a mild-mannered computer technician living in the quiet town of Rotenburg, posted an online request that would shock the world – he was looking for a man “willing to be slaughtered and eaten".

To the horror of many, someone responded.

The man who answered Meiwes’ bizzare call was Bernd Jurgen Brandes, a 43-year-old engineer from Berlin. Brandes not only consented to being killed, he actively sought it. What followed was a gruesome and legally confounding case that tested the very boundaries of consent and criminal law in Germany.

The ad was posted on a now-defunct internet forum called The Cannibal Cafe, a niche space where individuals with extreme fantasies discussed taboo desires. Meiwes, then 42, had long harboured fantasies of cannibalism, reportedly since childhood. Though he had communicated with others online, none had taken the step that Brandes was willing to take.

On March 6, 2001, Brandes, using the username ‘Cator99′, replied. Over a series of online exchanges, he agreed not only to be killed but to participate in the preparation and consumption of his own body. Just three days later, he travelled to Meiwes’ countryside home in Wustefeld, near Rotenburg, to fulfill the pact.

What took place on the night of March 9 defies belief. The two men reportedly had sex before Brandes voluntarily consumed a mix of sleeping pills and schnapps, numbing himself for what would come next.

Meiwes then attempted to amputate Brandes’ genitals. In a scene that could only be described as gruesome, they tried to cook and eat the severed organ together. It proved too tough to chew, was overcooked, and was eventually fed to Meiwes’ dog.

Brandes, severely bleeding but still alive, was left in a bathtub as Meiwes checked on him intermittently – at times reading a Star Trek novel while waiting for him to die. Nearly ten hours later, when Brandes was still alive but fading, Meiwes ended his life by stabbing him in the throat.

He then hung the body on meat hooks, dismembered it like a butcher would a carcass, and stored portions of the flesh in a freezer. Over the next ten months, Meiwes consumed approximately 20 kgs of Brandes’ flesh, cooking it with olive oil, garlic, and spices. In later interviews, he described the taste as “like pork".

Cannibalism itself was not explicitly illegal in Germany at the time, which led to significant legal confusion once Meiwes was arrested. His downfall came when he posted another similar advertisement online. An Austrian student who saw the post tipped off the authorities, and Meiwes was arrested in December 2002.

Police uncovered chilling evidence; frozen body parts and a four-hour videotape of the killing. The tape proved crucial as it documented Brandes’ apparent consent to the entire act.

In 2004, a court in Kassel convicted Meiwes of “manslaughter by request" and sentenced him to eight and a half years in prison. But the sentence triggered public outrage. Prosecutors appealed, arguing that Brandes’ consent did not absolve Meiwes of murder.

A retrial was ordered. In 2006, the court found Meiwes guilty of murder and disturbing the peace of the dead, handing down a life sentence.

Who Was Bernd Brandes?

Brandes was a respected professional on the surface, but court documents and testimony revealed a troubled inner life. His long-term partner had left him after discovering he was bisexual, and prosecutors suggested he suffered from deep psychological issues, including a documented “desire for self-destruction."

Before his fatal meeting with Meiwes, Brandes had erased all personal data from his devices, sold his belongings, and left a will naming his male lover as heir.

The case left an indelible mark on Germany. It raised difficult questions about the limits of personal consent, the reach of criminal law, and the psychological dangers lurking in the darkest corners of the internet. Lawmakers began pushing for changes to ensure that consensual cannibalism, no matter how surreal, would be treated unequivocally as murder.

Meiwes, now serving life in a prison in Germany, has since claimed to have renounced cannibalism. He’s reportedly become a vegetarian and has cooperated with filmmakers and authors interested in telling his story -one he now calls a cautionary tale.

The case of Armin Meiwes remains one of the most disturbing episodes in Germany’s criminal history, a story of fantasy turned fatal, and a grim reminder of how the internet can blur the line between imagination and atrocity.

Location :

Germany

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News world 'Tasted Like Pork': This German Cannibal Ate Friend's Body For 10 Months