Der Großmann

Have you seen Der Großmann? Or translated from German, The tall man.

But he is well know as The Slender Man!

The Slender Man is a being male in appearance who looks like a man with extremely long, slender arms and legs.
He also appears to have 4 to 8 long, black tentacles that protrude from his back, though different photographs and enthusiasts disagree on this fact, and therefore it is theorized he can 'contract' these tentacles at will.
He is described as wearing a black suit strikingly similar to the visage of the notorious Men In Black, and as the name suggests, appears very thin and able to stretch his limbs and torso to inhuman lengths in order to induce fear and ensnare his prey.


Once his arms are outstretched, his victims are put into something of a hypnotized state, where they are utterly helpless to stop themselves from walking into them.
He is also able to create tendrils from his fingers and back that he uses to walk on. Whether he absorbs, kills, or merely takes his victims to an undisclosed location or dimension is also unknown as there are never any bodies or evidence left behind in his wake to deduce a definite conclusion.

His face is pale and slightly ghostly, and almost appears to have been wrapped in a type of gauze or cloth. his facial features are also an object of debate, and many people believe that his face looks different to each person, if it is seen at all. He often keeps his long, pale hands crossed politely behind his back or hanging loosely at his sides.



The slender man was a man who was beat with a log, stabbed with a 2 foot stick, and hung from a tree with his arms, hands, legs, and feet all pulled out of sockets.

The legend is that in the daytime the slender man will most likely show up in open areas with trees to the side of an open, empty road, or in the woods or any area filled with trees.
Most reports from survivors of the slender man say at night he shows up in open windows, dark open rooms, blank TV screens, and in large crowds of people.
The slender man only kills kids younger then 16.
There are ways to toy with him, but you may be risking your own death. His arms, legs, fingers, and toes will stretch so that he is up to 34 feet tall with a bone breaking sound.
If he appears to you, turn away! He has the power to control your body.
When you wake up, you will be tied up laying down in the woods where he was killed. A 547 pound log will be hanging over your head. He will ask you a question.
If you get the answer right, he will break both your arms and legs. If you get it wrong he will slowly stick his fingers down your neck and pulls out you heart.

He also has been reported seen with large groups of children, as many photographs portray. It is commonly thought that he resides in woods and forests and preys on children. He seems unconcerned with being exposed in the daylight or captured in photos.

It is often thought as well that he enjoys stalking people who become overly paranoid about his existence, purposefully giving them glimpses of himself in order to further frighten them. For this reason, it seems like Slenderman very much enjoys psychologically torturing his victims.
He also often appears to float or drift around rather than walk, which suggest the possibility of him being an ethereal being rather than a creature or a man. This would also explain why he is able to remain mobile in spite of his poorly proportioned body.

Even though Slender Man was fabricated on `SomethingAwful` forums (or was he?), some people have already claimed sightings. He is seen mostly at night peering into open windows and walks out in front of lone motorists on secluded roads. His main intentions appear to be kidnapping children, as when he is seen near them in photographs, they usually disappear shortly afterwards. The SlenderMan has also inspired many stories such as those of Marble Hornets.
In the end though, his purpose remains unknown.



Some other people claim to have seen or heard about the slenderman long before in their lives or in legends dating back to the Medieval period in human history [such as Germanic folklore concerning "Der Großmann " roaming the black forest (Der Schwarzwald) and snatching away children who disobey their parents].

The myth goes on to state that the tall man was possibly a child molester who was strung about the trees as punishment for his crimes. His spirit is said to have survived and continues to prey upon the young.

The “tall man” is generally depicted as an unusually tall (he can grow to different heights; capable of blending in with the trees of a forest) and completely bald figure sporting a business suit with either a red or black tie. He has no eyes, nose, or ears, and has a very wide grin running from one side of his face to the other, or no mouth at all.


The tall man is commonly spotted hiding and lurking about in the fog when stalking his victims. Der Großmann usually befriends his children victims (acting as an imaginary friend of sorts) and is capable of luring them into forests at night with psychokinetic powers. From then on the children walk mindlessly into the branching arms of Der Großmann as he grins at their young faces, never to be seen or heard of again-a fate unknown. Some say these children are eaten, taken to another dimension, or quite possibly worse. Again, the myth varies.

Der Großmann is said to be capable of slowly driving victims to madness, can induce paranoia, give coughing fits to them, and can induce disorientation and dizziness, amnesia, and insomnia.

He is even said to be capable of visiting them in horrendous nightmares that vary from person from person.
Such victims are slowly driven to insanity by Der Großmann and are soon incapable of thought outside the realm of his fear.
This induced insanity is said to weaken victims, making them more susceptible to his control. He loves to toy with his prey before finishing them off.

In some cases victims become mindless minions for Der Großmann, working to bring in more victims to him for his satisfaction. These minions may plant listening devices in your home, follow you around without you being aware of it, and watch over you-even as you sleep.
Some say he can teleport and appear at multiple locations at the same time. In some myths he is able to distort electronic equipment; quite possibly Der Großmann is some electromagnetic entity.

Think you can kill or ambush him? Think again. With his psychokinetic powers Der Großmann can deflect bullets and other objects away from his body before impact. Ambush would also be quite impossible; if you’ve seen Der Großmann it is most likely that he is closely watching you and all of your actions. Failed attempts to strike at Der Großmann with a weapon may be met with him obstructing your nervous system and disabling bodily functions-making it ever more easy for him to finish you off.
 

Again, it is not known exactly what happens once a victim has finally been taken by him. Some say they simply disappear. In more gruesome accounts the victims’ bodies are found impaled on tree limbs with their organs placed throughout their bodies in plastic bags.
The most frightening possible fate may be that Der Großmann extends his fingers to great lengths, punctures the bodies of victims, and destroys every major internal organ they have from within; tying them up from the inside into a great slendery (and bloody) knot.
Remember, the thought of Der Großmann may bring him ever more closer to you. Trying to forget about him will also lead him to you; once you see him there is no turning away from the possibilities of ends which await you.
Those slender shadows you see moving about in the dark of the night or that tall and misshaped tree in the distance may very well be Der Großmann. Waiting…watching…grinning all the while.

Historical references

The Slender Man is an alleged paranormal figure purported to have been in existence for centuries, covering a large geographic area. Believers in the Slender Man tie his appearances in with many other legends around the world, including; Fear Dubh (or, The Dark Man) in Scotland, the Dutch Takkenmann (Branch Man), and the German legend of Der Großmann or Der Grosse Mann (the Tall Man).

The earliest argued reference to the legend is within the cave paintings found in the Serr da Capivara National Park in the Northeast of Brazil, which are believed to date from as far back as 9000 BC. These paintings show a strangely elongated character leading a child by the hand, but make no reference to the extra appendages.







The next known possible reference to the Slender Man comes from around 3100 BC in lower Egypt, with references to the "Thief of the Gods" or the "Thief of Kuk" becoming common place during the reign of Pharaoh Wazner. Hieroglyphic carvings representing the Thief were found in the pharaoh's tomb, who was rumored to have had some kind of encounter with the entity. The carvings resemble a strange figure with multiple upper limbs, one that has never been found in any other hieroglyph language.

Renowned German woodcutter Hans Freckenberg created at least two woodcuts featuring a character he described as Der Ritter (The Knight) during the mid-sixteenth century that were discovered in Halstberg Castle in 1883. Whilst Freckenberg was well-known for his realistic depiction of human anatomy - something that was unusual among woodcuts of the time - these pictures featured a skeletal, multi-limbed character. Historians are unsure of the exact symbolic nature of the character, with some claiming that it is a personification of the religious wars that raged in Europe at the time, while others say it represents the mysterious plagues that have been believed to be the reason for the mysterious abandoning of the Hastlberg Castle and the nearby village in 1543.



However, many insist that Freckenberg was attempting to represent "Der Großmann" (the Tall Man). According to legend, he was a fairy ho lived in the Black Forest. Bad children who crept into the woods at night would be relentlessly chased by Der Großmann, who wouldn't leave them be until he either caught them or they were forced to tell their parents of their wrongdoing.
Even then, there is a chilling account from an old journal, dating from about 1702:

"My child, my Lars… he is gone. Taken, from his bed. The only thing that we found was a scrap of black clothing. It feels like cotton, but it is softer… thicker. Lars came into my bedroom yesterday, screaming at the top of his lungs that "The angel is outside!" I asked him what he was talking about, and he told me some nonsense fairy story about Der Großmann. He said he went into the groves by our village and found one of my cows dead, hanging from a tree. I thought nothing of it at first… but now, he is gone. We must find Lars, and my family must leave before we are killed. I am sorry, my son… I should have listened. May God forgive me."



There is also a Romanian fairytale which tells the legend of the Tall Man, featuring this description which may have taken to refer to the Slender Man
"The tall man stood in a clearing, dressed as a nobleman, all in black. Shadows lay over him, dark as a cloudy midnight. He had many arms, all long and boneless as snakes, all sharp as swords, and they writhed like worms on nails. He did not speak, but made his intentions known,"
In the fairytale, the Tall Man causes a mother to kill her husband and child, before he slid from a fireplace and "clenched her in his burning embrace."

What is the truth?

What makes Der Großmann so fearful is that his existence is questionable.

He may be real…or he may not be.
Perhaps the majority who have encountered the tall man have never lived to tell the tale.

But what is really interesting is the stories trough time and history.
They all talk about the same creature.

It could be a demon acting, taking this from trough time.
Or a guy in suit that drugs people and make them see things.

Most of the pictures are fake, it was even a contest. But what if there was some real?

Maybe we will encounter him one day.