Meiwes/Brandes Cannibalism Tape

March 9, 2001

Bernd Brandes traveled from Berlin, Germany to Rotenburg to meet Armin Meiwes. The two had been chatting on a forum for cannibals.

Armin had been obsessed with eating another person since childhood.  He placed an ad on the internet looking for someone who wished to be eaten.   Bernd responded.

The men met at Armin’s home, ate dinner and had sex.  In preparation for the real reason Bernd was there, he took 20 sleeping pills and drank some alcohol.  Then Armin cut his penis off.  Armin tried eat it, but it was too chewy, so he cooked it, but it burned.  Eventually, Armin just fed it to the dog.

He ran Bernd a bath. While Bernd soaked, Armin read a book and checked on him regularly. Armin filmed the entire encounter.

Early the next morning, Armin stabbed Bernd in the neck, killing him.  He chopped up Bernd’s body and stored it in the freezer.  He buried the skull.

Between March and December, Armin ate approximately 44 pounds of Bernd.

In December, someone called the police and directed them to the ad that Armin had posted. Police investigated on December 10. They found a portion of Bernd’s body in the freezer and 4 hours of video showing the events of the evening. Armin was arrested and tried for murder.

The prosecution in the case had a difficult time.  For one, cannibalism is not illegal in Germany.  They were able to try him for murder for sexual pleasure and disturbing the peace of the dead.  Secondly, the video clearly shows Bernd consenting to be killed and consumed by Armin multiple times throughout the evening.

The video was shown to jurors in court. Some needed therapy after the trial. There are screenshots on the internet that some have claimed to be from the video, but none have ever been confirmed. The video has never been released to the public.

A video summary of this week’s post can be found at

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