Carl Tanzler's Email & Phone Number

📖 Summary

Carl Tanzler, also known as Count Carl von Cosel, was a German-born radiographer who gained notoriety for his bizarre and disturbing obsession with a young woman named Elena Hoyos. Born in 1877 in Germany, Tanzler moved to the United States in 1926 and began working as a radiologic technologist at the Marine-Hospital Service in Key West, Florida. It was here that he would meet Elena, a young Cuban woman, and become infatuated with her.

Tanzler reportedly claimed to have had visions of Elena as an exotic, dark-haired beauty and became obsessed with the idea that they were destined to be together. Despite the fact that Elena was already married, Tanzler became determined to win her affections and allegedly began showering her with gifts and professing his love for her. Unfortunately for Tanzler, Elena did not share his feelings and continued to live her life without reciprocating his advances.

Tragically, Elena fell ill with tuberculosis and passed away in 1931 at the young age of 22. Distraught over the loss of his beloved, Tanzler reportedly visited her grave frequently and even claimed to have heard her voice calling out to him. Unable to cope with his grief, Tanzler decided to take matters into his own hands and hatched a macabre plan to preserve Elena's body.

Tanzler used his knowledge of radiography to create a makeshift mausoleum for Elena's corpse and developed a number of bizarre and unethical techniques to preserve her body. He fitted Elena's remains with glass eyes and inserted wax into her decaying nasal passages to keep her facial features intact. He also reportedly used a variety of chemicals and preservatives to maintain her appearance, even going so far as to replace her skin with silk cloth soaked in wax.

For nearly a decade, Tanzler kept Elena's body hidden away in his home, where he would visit and care for her as if she were still alive. He dressed her in fine clothing, jeweled her with trinkets, and even serenaded her with music on a daily basis. In an attempt to keep her from decaying further, he also doused her body with a mix of formaldehyde and other chemicals.

Tanzler's disturbing obsession with Elena's corpse eventually came to light in 1940 when her sister discovered the truth about her final resting place. Tanzler was arrested and charged with multiple crimes, including grave robbing and desecration of a corpse. His bizarre actions sparked a media frenzy and garnered nationwide attention, with many people expressing outrage and disbelief at the extent of his delusional behavior.

During his trial, Tanzler claimed that he had been visited by visions of Elena's spirit, instructing him to take care of her body and keep her safe. Despite his efforts to justify his actions with romantic overtures and declarations of undying love, he was ultimately found mentally incompetent and unfit to stand trial. As a result, Tanzler was released from custody and returned to his native Germany, where he lived out the remainder of his days in relative seclusion.

The story of Carl Tanzler's twisted and obsessive behavior continues to captivate and horrify people to this day, inspiring numerous books, documentaries, and films exploring the depths of his depraved devotion to Elena's corpse. His macabre actions raise unsettling questions about the limits of love and the boundaries of sanity, serving as a chilling reminder of the dark and unpredictable nature of human obsession. Tanzler's disturbing legacy serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked infatuation and the potential for obsession to lead to tragic and unthinkable consequences.