Anspach Werewolf (1685)

Anspach Werewolf (1685) Strange German werewolf case with VAMPIRE overtones, in which a ravaging wolf was believed to be a returning dead person. In 1685 a wolf terrorized Anspach (now Ansbach), Germany, killing women, children, and domestic animals. The townspeople believed the wolf to be the late burgomaster, a most detested man, who was returning to wreak havoc. A great hunt was mounted, and at last the wolf was chased into a well and killed. The carcass of the wolf was then dressed up like the burgomaster in a flesh-coloured suit, mask, wig, and beard. It was hung from a gibbet. Later, the carcass was put on display in a museum as a werewolf. The belief of the townspeople that the burgomaster had returned from the dead to attack them made him a vampire of sorts, but in wolf form and not in his own form as the reanimated dead.

FURTHER READING:

• Sidky, H. Witchcraft, Lycanthropy, Drugs and Disease: An Anthropological Study of the European Witch-Hunts. New York: Peter Lang, 1997.

SOURCE:

Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters – Written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley -a leading expert on the paranormal -Copyright © 2005 by Visionary Living, Inc.