Michael Ranft

Michael Ranft (or Ranfft; also Rauff), in Latin Michael Ranfftius (9 December 170018 April 1774) was a Lutheran pastor, writer and historian who is known for his writings on vampires in Germany.

Biography A pastor's son, Michael Ranft was born in Güldengossa and went to school in Chemnitz. From 1720 he studied at University of Leipzig, where he received the degree of bachelor of philosophy. In 1724 he graduated with a master's. From 1725 he was steward to the Vice President of the Court of Appeal in Gröditz.

In 1727 Michael Ranft succeeded Friedrich Wilhelm Preuser in the diaconate of the city of Nebra. The city council there promised to repair the apartment that Ranft had been allocated, which was dilapidated, but nothing was done until 1732 and Ranft repeatedly complained to the Presbytery of Leipzig.

While he struggled along on an income of 150 talers at most and endured poor living conditions, Ranft conducted research on vampirism. His book, De masticatione mortuorum in tumulis (1728; On the Chewing of the Dead in their Tombs), dealing with cases of the dead who had supposedly devoured the linen in their coffins, is still regularly quoted in vampire literature.

In 1749 became pastor in Großstechau in the Principality of Altenburg, where he died in 1774. His sons Michael Gebhard and Christian Solomon Ranft were also pastors in Großstechau or Rückersdorf.

De masticatione mortuorum in tumulis

Ranft recounts cases reported from Germany of dead persons devouring the linen and everything else that was in reach of their mouths, and claims that people who happened to be nearby would hear sounds as if of pigs growling and grunting. A particular case he mentions is that of Heinrich, Count of Salm, who after being declared dead was put in his grave, in the churchyard of the Abbey of Haute-Seille, while he was still alive. Witnesses claimed that they heard loud cries during the night at the place he was buried, and the next day they opened his tomb, disinterred him and discovered that he had gnawed the flesh of his arms. Other cases mentioned in the book date back to the year 1355. According to Ranft, in some places in Germany mounds of dirt were placed under the chins of the dead, while in other places a coin and a stone were placed in the mouth, and in still other places a handkerchief was tied tightly around the throat.