Werewolf Facts

Famous Werewolves: Werewolf of Bedburg

Peter Stubbe, better known as 'The Werewolf of Bedburg' was born in Epprath near Bedburg, Cologne. He was a German farmer and an alleged serial killer and cannibal that created terror c in the suburbs. An account of the relating to Stumpp was detailed in a German pamphlet of 16 pages, but it was destroyed. Two copies of its English translation survived, and one is preserved in the British Museum and the other is in the Lambeth Library. He was considered a werewolf whose left fore-paw was believed to have been cut off during some encounter, and because of his missing hand this was taken as sufficient objective evidence against him.

Peter Stubbe (also documented as Peter Stube, Peeter Stubbe, Peter Stübbe and Peter Stumpf, as well as the aliases Abal Griswold, Abil Griswold, and Abel Griswold) was a wealthy farmer in the rural community of Bedburg, located in the electorate of Cologne, Germany. The community knew him as a pleasant enough widower and father of two adolescent children, whose wealth ensured him a measure of respect and influence. But this was Peter Stubbe's public face. His true nature erupted through some black scar in his soul to satisfy a blood lust when he donned the skin of a wolf.

At the time, Catholicism and were at war for the hearts and minds of the populace, which brought invading armies from both faiths to Bedburg. There were also outbreaks of the dreaded. So conflict and death were no strangers to the people of the region, which perhaps provided fertile ground for the awakening of Stubbe's foul deeds.

Cattle Mutilations:

For many years, farmers around Bedburg were mystified by the strange deaths of some of their cows. Day after day for many weeks, they would find cattle dead in the pastures, ripped open as if by some savage animal.

The farmers naturally suspected wolves, but this was actually the beginning of Peter Stubbe's unnatural compulsion to mutilate and kill. This insatiable drive would soon escalate into attacks on his neighboring villagers.

Women and Children:

Children began to disappear from their farms and homes. Young women vanished from the paths they traveled daily. Some were found dead, horribly mutilated. Others were never found. The community was thrown into a panic. Hungry wolves were again suspected and the villagers armed themselves against the animals.

Some even feared a more devious creature—a werewolf, who could walk among them unsuspected as a man, then transform into a wolf to satisfy its hunger.

This was the case. Although he did not literally transform into a wolf, Peter Stubbe would cloak himself with the skin of a wolf when seeking his victims. At his trial Stubbe confessed that himself gave him a magic belt of wolf fur at age 12 that, when he put it on, transformed him into "the likeness of a greedy, devouring wolf, strong and mighty, with eyes great and large, which in the night sparkled like brands of fire; a mouth great and wide, with most sharp and cruel teeth; a huge body and mighty paws." When he took the belt off, he believed, he returned to his human state.

Unthinkable Murders:

Peter Stubbe was a deranged serial killer, and over the course of his murderous career, he was responsible for the deaths of 13 children, two pregnant women, and numerous livestock. And these were no ordinary murders:

The young women among his victims were sexually assaulted before he tore them apart.With the pregnant women, he ripped the fetuses from their wombs and "ate their hearts panting hot and raw," which he later described as "dainty morsels."Small children were strangled, bludgeoned and throats ripped open with his bare hands. Some were disemboweled and partially eaten.Lambs and calves were ripped apart and devoured raw.