Der Großmann
Der Großmann (der Grossman), or “The Tall Man”/ "The Great Man", is a supposed mythical creature associated with woodcuts carved by an unknown artist in 16th century Germany. Said woodcuts portrayed it as a tall, disfigured man with white spheres where his eyes should be, similar in appearance to the Slender Man. Der Großmann was commonly described as a fairy of the Black Forest who abducted bad children that entered the forest at night, and would stalk them until they confessed their wrongdoings to a parent.
Supposed Account[]
A supposed translated account from 1702 describes an alleged incident involving Der Großmann:
| “ | ''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.'' |
” |
Relation to Slender Man[]
Der Großmann is a creepypasta written by a Something Awful user named Thoreau Up about a mythical monster from 16th century Germany implied to be the Slender Man. Although most fans believe the story is a genuine myth, there is no proof of that claim being true because the only sites where information on the creature can be found are all Slender Man related. As such, it is more likely that people have simply spread a false rumor based on misinformation about the story, much like the Slender Man's debunked connection to Der Ritter woodcuts. Some fans suspect the story was written in order to further connect Slender Man to Germany and The Erlking.
Karl Maxwell refers to Slender Man by this name in the tenth episode of TribeTwelve, My Grandfather Karl.
In the Hospice map of Slenderman's Shadow, the player must collect 8 pieces of paper, each one containing 2 lines (16 lines total), which are eventually put together in the end into a poem called "Der Großmann".