The Slender Man – Der Grobmann, and German Folklore

You’ve probably reached this page because you’re already aware of the ‘Slender Man’, and have heard of him being referred to as ‘Der Grobmann’, a creature supposedly of Germanic folklore, upon which the Slender Man myth is said (by some) to be based, and wanted to find out a little more about it…

Unfortunately though, for such an intriguing tale, at the time of writing, there is very little solid information to be found online, to support the argument that Slender Man is based upon the Der Grobmann ‘folk tale’, or any evidence, for that matter,  that such a Germanic fairy tale even existed, prior to the birth of the Slender Man MEME.

As stated above no solid evidence (at time of writing) can be found online to support the existence of the Der Grobmann entity.  Either within Germanic folklore, or beyond.  However, there are numerous references, and discussions to be found online debating the existence of the Slender Man, and Der Grobmann in turn, from which we piece together to some degree, what it is, that Der Grobmann is said to be…

The Rough Man

Translating as ‘The Rough Man’, Der Grobmann is also referred to as ‘The Tall Man’, and ‘The Gross Man’.  And is said to be a creature told of in Germanic fairy tales designed to scare children into behaving, and going to bed at a sensible hour.  With the story told by parents being that Der Grobmann would knock on the windows of naughty children who stayed up too late, and with his long arms would then snatch the child away, never to be heard of again.

An Account of Der Grobmann

The only ‘real’ account I can find online (at time of writing) that paints itself as being an extract of Germanic folklore tells of Der Grobmann being a tall, disfigured man, with totally white spheres for eyes.  Claiming Der Grobmann was a known to the ‘fairy mythology’ of sixteenth century Germany, was an entity who dwelt on the edges of Germany’s Black Forest, and was a being who persecuted malevolent children who entered the forests after dusk.

The same account speaks of an old journal entry from 1702 that tells of a child ‘Lars’ who had told his mother of seeing an ‘Angel’, before later being stolen away by Der Grobmann, much to Lar’s parents dismay.

Victor Surge and the Slender Man Theft

While there is strong evidence to suggest that Slender Man (in his now popular form at least) WAS  the product of one Victor Surge.  Dreamt up, and brought to life within the ‘Something Awful’ forums.  Some claim still that Victor Surge drew heavily upon the legend of the Der Grobmann entity when ‘creating’ Slender Man.  Suggesting that while the photos may be fakes, the story behind them is not, and is based upon a tale much less recent than the members of the Something Awful forums high-spirited attempt to pull the wool over our eyes.

With few to no references to be found online outside of Slender Man discussions, it appears that Der Grobmann is simply more smoke and mirrors, or as one YouTube user (perhaps) puts it best:

‘There is no corroborating or compelling evidence or even HINT that Slender Man is the “new name” for some old myth. There have been no correlations of any kind made by any actual historian or folklorist, or anyone else for that matter. This is complete confabulation by mischievous people wanting to invent their own legend.’
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But, while the Der Grobmann extension on the Slender Man legend may be a dead-end in itself, the Slender Man mythos as a whole continues to burn brightly.  Expanding, and evolving.  And just perhaps, in one form, or another.  Known by hundreds of different names the world over.  The Slender Man even now, continues to stalk its prey.