The Nachzehrer or German vampire is a type of Wiedergänger, a ghoul of the Undead who rises from the grave to terrorize mortals. A Nachzehrer has a special grudge against its family.
Nachzehrer mythology comes from northern Germany, Bavaria, Silesia and the Baltic region. The eternally hungry Nachzehrer is created through murder, accident, violent death or suicide.
Other causes of undead activity include leaving the name of the deceased on its burial clothing. This can call the dead back to life or form deluded attachments to the world of the living.
Nachzehrer lies in its coffin, grunting and chewing its funeral shroud. In a graveyard, the grisly sound signifies the proximity of a Nachzehrer, and is used by vampire hunters to find the monster.
When Nachzehrer awakes from the dead, its first thought is to kill and devour its family. Whatever gender it has before death is no more. It's an entity of chaos, destruction and evil, a rapacious seeker of lethal revenge.
If murdered, it may hunt down the one who murdered it. In the meantime it takes its wrath out on others.
Thirst for vengeance can be a product of the muddled Undead mentality. Those who walk again suffer brain damage or emotional trauma, resulting in hostility and rage.
It also depends on how long a person has been dead before rising again and how much deterioration affects the brain and body. A Nachzehrer can be obsessed with killing those who wronged it in life ... even if they didn't.
Nachzehrer is similar to the Slavic vampire, as it's a recently deceased person, returned from the grave to attack family and village acquaintances. In the Baltic region,
"Some Kashubes believed that the Nachzehrer would leave its grave, shapeshifting into the form of a pig, and pay a visit to their family members to feast on their blood. In addition, the Nachzehrer was able to ascend to a church belfry to ring the bells, bringing death to anyone who hears them. Another lesser known ability of the Nachzehrer is the power it had to bring death by causing its shadow to fall upon someone. Those hunting the Nachzehrer in the graveyard would listen for grunting sounds that it would make while it munched on its grave clothes."
(Matthew Bunsen, The Vampire Encyclopedia)
Nachzehrer can cast evil eye spells from a distance and afflict people with disease while lying in the coffin gnawing its shroud. Besides the grunting and chewing, Nachzehrer may be identified as it lies with its left eye open and thumb grasped in the other hand.
Signs of chewing might appear on its flesh if it's eaten up the shroud and begun to consume its own body in a process of self-cannibalism.
Eating its own flesh slowly drains life force of its family members or acquaintances. The more of itself the Nachzehrer consumes, the weaker, sicker or more fatigued the afflicted victims become.
In 1679, theologian Philip Rohr in Leipzig publishes a study of what he calls grave eating or 'the chewing dead'. He chronicles accounts of corpses thought to have "consumed their own shrouds and winding cloths, and even their own limbs and bowels".
He describes the sounds from the grave as the corpse "laps like some thirsty animal" or chews, grunts and groans."
Nachzehrer are connected to plague and epidemic sickness. In the case of a plague, the first person to fall ill is thought to be Nachzehrer spreading contagious disease.
Although it can work evil from its coffin, the Nachzehrer is vulnerable when asleep or in a resting state. The monster keeps one eye open to fool those who might attack it, but it's a well known ploy to vampire hunters.
Once a vampire hunter locates the Nachzehrer, the slayer has options, such as to place a coin in its mouth and chop off its head. The coin should be silver or copper. The mouth can be sewn shut to prevent coin expulsion.
A stone wedged into the mouth can prevent Nachzehrer from chewing on its burial shroud or itself. The Nachzehrer cannot rise again. its magic ineffectual.
Caraway sprinkled in and around the grave keeps the creature from joining the ranks of the roaming Undead. Rosemary is also used for this purpose.
If the Nachzehrer emerges from the coffin, it's on grey overcast days and at night. These aren't good times to go for a stroll in the graveyard, because Nachzehrer aren't the only creatures here to fear.
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