Post by Brad-LaSpirits on Sept 30, 2007 13:05:46 GMT -5
German Vampires
Germany had mainly two names for vampires: Nachtzehrer ("night waster") used in Northern Germany and Blutsauger ("bloodsucker") used in Southern Germany and Bavaria. The Nachtzehrer was similar to the Slavic vampire in that it was known to be a recently deceased person who returned from the grave to attack family and village acquaintances. It usually originated from an unusual death such as a person who died by suicide or accident. They were also associated with epidemic sickness, such as whenever a group of people died from the same disease, the person who died first was labeled to be the cause of the group's death. Another belief was that if a person's name was not removed from his burial clothing, that person would be a candidate for becoming a Nachtzehrer.
Nachtzehrers
Nachtzehrers were believed to chew on their own extremities and cloths until they had been satiated. They would then rise out of their graves and devour the bodies of others like ghouls. They were often accompanied by the corpse of a woman who had died during childbirth. If the vampire had been buried in a coffin, the corpse would be found lying in pools of blood because he had gorged himself to the point where he could not retain all the blood he had consumed.
To protect themselves from the Nachtzehrer, villagers would place clumps of earth under the vampire's chin, place a coin or stone in its mouth, or tie a handkerchief tightly around its neck. In other cases, the corpse would be beheaded, a spike would be driven through head to pin the corpse to the ground, or the tongue would be fixed into place.
Germany had mainly two names for vampires: Nachtzehrer ("night waster") used in Northern Germany and Blutsauger ("bloodsucker") used in Southern Germany and Bavaria. The Nachtzehrer was similar to the Slavic vampire in that it was known to be a recently deceased person who returned from the grave to attack family and village acquaintances. It usually originated from an unusual death such as a person who died by suicide or accident. They were also associated with epidemic sickness, such as whenever a group of people died from the same disease, the person who died first was labeled to be the cause of the group's death. Another belief was that if a person's name was not removed from his burial clothing, that person would be a candidate for becoming a Nachtzehrer.
Nachtzehrers
Nachtzehrers were believed to chew on their own extremities and cloths until they had been satiated. They would then rise out of their graves and devour the bodies of others like ghouls. They were often accompanied by the corpse of a woman who had died during childbirth. If the vampire had been buried in a coffin, the corpse would be found lying in pools of blood because he had gorged himself to the point where he could not retain all the blood he had consumed.
To protect themselves from the Nachtzehrer, villagers would place clumps of earth under the vampire's chin, place a coin or stone in its mouth, or tie a handkerchief tightly around its neck. In other cases, the corpse would be beheaded, a spike would be driven through head to pin the corpse to the ground, or the tongue would be fixed into place.