German and north European vampires have little in common with the vampires of America and popular culture. The Nachzehrer is a type of Wiedergänger, a ghoul of the Undead who rises from the grave to terrorize the world of mortals. Nachzehrer have a special grudge against their families.
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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 include leaving the name of the deceased on its burial clothing, as if calling the dead back to life.
A Nachzehrer lies in its coffin, grunting and chewing on 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. It's an entity of chaos, destruction and evil, and can be deathly vengeful. If murdered, it may hunt down the one who murdered it or simply take its wrath out on others.
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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. Nachzehrer can be obsessed with killing those who wronged it in life ... even if they didn't.
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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)
A Nachzehrer can also 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.
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In 1679, theologian Philip Rohr in Leipzig published a study of what he called grave eating or 'the chewing dead'. He chronicled many accounts of corpses thought to have "consumed their own shrouds and winding cloths, and even their own limbs and bowels". He also described 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 was thought to be Nachzehrer spreading contagious disease.
Although it can work evil from its coffin, the Nachzehrer is also 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.
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Once a vampire hunter locates the Nachzehrer, the slayer has options, including to put a coin in its mouth and chop off its head. The coin can be silver or copper. Silver is naturally antimicrobial to kill bacteria, ie sickness, and has magical properties of cleansing and purification. Copper, a natural anti-inflammatory, has magic qualities to enhance positive energy. The mouth can be sewn shut to prevent expulsion of the coin.
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 around the grave also keeps the creature from joining the ranks of the Undead.
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 isn't the only one to fear.
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