Germany has a great number of species of vampires, about fifty, and most of them are REVENANTs. Truth be told, the vampires of Germany are fairly similar to what is considered by many to be the “traditional” vampire. They are repelled by GARLIC as well as HAWTHORN. To destroy one, a person must stake it through the heart or behead it. But that is where the similarity ends.

German vampires cannot create more of their kind, at least, not simply. To actually “make” another vampire may be beyond their capability. Generally speaking there is little evidence to suggest that they have more than basic animal instincts, if that. But if this type of vampire were so inclined to seek out a person to create as a fellow REVENANT, there would only be three ways to do so. The first would be to train someone to be a witch and enable them to live as such. The second would be to select a person and cultivate him into leading an immoral lifestyle.

The third option would be to drive someone to commit suicide. Only through these methods can a person elect to become a vampire. All other methods of creation are beyond control. Children who are born with a red caul, dying before a person’s time or in childbirth, and dying without being baptized are the other creation methods.

No matter how it came into being, the German vampire is a nocturnal hunter, stalking the streets by night. By day, it chews ravenously on its burial shroud in its grave. It is amazingly simple to stop a German vampire before it can do anyone any harm. When a person dies, if there is the slightest suspicion that he may become a vampire, all that has to be done to keep him in the ground is place a rock in his mouth or tie his mouth closed prior to burial.

Sources:

• Dundes, Vampire Casebook, 5;
• Leatherdale, Dracula: The Novel and the Legend, 41, 52, 95;
• Taberne, German Culture, 121, 126

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Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology Written by :Theresa Bane ©2010 Theresa Bane. All rights reserved