So who is he? And what happened?

So, in reality, what can we learn about Andreas and this mystery?

It certainly seems that his story captured imagination – but was this empathy for our fellow man; a good mystery; a desire for the supernatural and the unknown; a malicious need for details about another person’s tragedy?

Probably a mixture of it all.

So there are several possibilities:

 – THE HUMAN BEING

Andreas apparently objected to national service, and instead worked in a hospital for the mentally ill, where it is claimed he could have picked up traits in order to fool doctors.

It is widely believed that Andreas was arrogant, and has later been connected with ‘the ScatMan’ – a young newspaper columnist who dreamt of hitting the big time. This Scatman was incredibly clever, speaking 6 languages, and like to berate others publicly. This man was always looking to be famous, to reach for the top by any means, and to get on tv.

He is often described as arrogant, and desperate to get away from the small village mentality of his tiny Bavarian home town. (See the Speigel articles below that support this argument).

Another widely recognised theory is that the young man was gay. He felt pressured or unwanted in his small, traditional and religious home, and moved to France to escape and become himself.

It is also reported that his state of ill health was a result of heartbreak after splitting from a man in France. This break up cause him to go in to a deep depression, which leads on to the theory that he was trying to commit suicide in Sheerness.

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2007/05/01/piano-man-was-a-victim-of-gay-heartbreak/

http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/the-lost-son-the-life-and-travails-of-the-piano-man-a-372244.html

http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/the-lost-son-the-life-and-travails-of-the-piano-man-a-372244-2.html

  – THE SCIENTIFIC POSSIBILITIES

There are lost of stories that were reported about this man’s state of health.

Originally, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was sighted as most likely.

PTSD could have been a result of near drowning, or even cold, and could cause someone to lose their memory or speech for a short period. PTSD manifests in many ways, and is different with each person it affects.

If the man had tried to drown himself, or fallen from a boat, or found himself somewhere strange – all these things could result in PTSD.

Many people later believed that the man had a form of learning difficulty, such as autism. This could explain his great ability on the piano, but inability to communicate. He was nervous around people and made little eye contact, and didn’t like physical interaction.

Autism could also cause repetitive behaviour such as drawing the same thing over and over, and even compulsive behaviour such as cutting the labels out your clothes.

Sceptics say that this is a romanticised notion brought on by films such as Shine and Rain Man. For starters, there may be a good indication of a learning difficulty when tests and brain scans are performed on a patient, but there was none.

Amnesia is a possible cause – although is a very broad term that is hard to pin down. Memory exists throughout the brain, meaning a bump tot he head is unlikely to ‘knock out’ only a certain part of the brain containing memory, but leave all the normal cognitive functions behind. Highly unlikely, although not impossible.

One likely cause for this phenomenon would be Dissociative Disorder. This is a relatively misunderstood problem where emotional trauma can cause the brain to ‘block out’ something it finds too difficult to deal with.

This is more common, and more feasible, than many of us think. It is also often brought on by a small trauma, even a tiny knock to the head. Patients have been known to disassociate themselves from all sorts of both physical and mental functions, for example, if you are having a bad time in your life, your brain could convince itself that you are back in time, and therefore escape dealing with troubles in your current life.

This sounds ridiculous, but is a phenomenon know well to doctors.

Dissociative disorder goes hand in hand with Fugue State. A fugue state usually a short period where a person under stress, trauma or depression goes in to a ‘dream-like’ state and often goes wondering to places they do not know. It famously affected Agatha Christie, and also featured in Breaking Bad more recently.

This argument is often favoured because it a) explains why Andreas was in England – a place he did not know, and b) after a fugue a victim’s memories and knowledge tend to return in tact.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugue_state

It could be any of these things, a combination of all this, none of it.

We’ll probably never know….

The Piano Man Sham

The Piano Man remained in hospital for four months, and despite huge press coverage and obsessive callers on the helpline, no one was any closer to finding out who the man was.

Several ‘suspicious’ things were reported, although never verified. Supposedly the hospital reported several months in that the man’s hair was dyed. It was peculated that they should have known this earlier; that the late announcement was a cover up; and that the dying of hair in the first place was a sign of guilt from the man.

Then, on 19th August 2005, a nurse walked in to the man’s room. She asked, ‘Are you going to talk to me today?’, to which he replied, ‘Yes. I think I will.’

No one knows quite what happened after that – only that the man was identified as 20-year-old Andreas Grassl from Bavaria, and the next day he was flown back to Germany. The German Embassy in London confirmed his identity, but otherwise no one said any more about it.

The press hounded his family home in Germany, but to no avail. It took very little time for the papers to declare the entire story a scam from beginning to end. The Daily Mirror and Star in particular were vehemently angry with Andreas.

Various stories changed – including that the so-called Piano Man could never play at all.

Researchers said that Andreas had at one time worked in a psychiatric hospital himself, and was therefore able to mimic the behaviour of the mentally ill.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/piano-man-sham-554649

Clues and the Helpline

After the huge and obsessive press coverage, it is widely believed that the hospital came under pressure and scrutiny. It would not be unlikely that the hospital was struggling, with staff being harassed for comment and many people complaining that this ‘piano man’ was wasting NHS time and money.

The Daily Mail coined the name ‘Piano Man’, claiming the man was an illegal immigrant.

There were many clues presented by the piano man, which may have later fuelled those who suspected it was all a hoax. Supposedly he drew a Swedish flag, and pointed to Norway on a map, which resulted in interpreters being brought in.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4642919.stm

Additionally, the Piano Man helpline was being flooded with claims. Countless people claimed to know this man.

Leads that were followed included:

• An Italian pianist, whose picture resembled the Piano Man
• Thomas Strnad, a Czech Musician (who was only discounted when he saw the story on the news, and spoke up for himself!)
• Steven Villa Masson – a Polish mime, working in Italy, who was reported to be the piano man by a French musician. The Independent tracked down Masson to exclude him.
• Philip Staufen, aka Sywald Skeid, who had walked into a hospital in Toronto two years earlier claiming to have amnesia
• Klaudius Kryšpín, the drummer of a Czech rock band Pražský výběr (“Prague Selection”)
• The Algerian husband of Danish council member Susanne Steffenson, who announced she thought the Piano Man was her husband on Danish television, saying “He has lost 20 kilos and bleached his hair, but I can see in his eyes that it is him. I will never be wrong when I see those eyes.” Susanne claimed he may have travelled to England after problems with his family, and even went to the hospital, only to be turned away by staff.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4598055.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4562083.stm

The Press Coverage

The hospital released information on this mysterious stranger to the press. There are many speculations about this – whether an individual ‘leaked’ the information, or the famous picture of the piano man was set up, or whether more simply, the hospital simply hoped to find the man’s identity by releasing his image to the public.

Some of this may be cleared by this relatively recent blog post by photographer Mike Gunill.

http://mikegunnill.tumblr.com/post/101689916343/mystery-man-piano-man

Nonetheless, the story got out, and went global. Thankfully the BBC, unlike most other newspapers, still have many of their articles published and available to view online. (Why have the others been taken down?)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4550069.stm

You can see a more comprehensive list of articles here

The discovery of the unidentified stranger…

The Piano Man was actually in hospital for a month before the story was first published. Therefore, his movements during those infamous days on the Isle of Sheppey are hard to pin down.

It is widely recognised by multiple sources that the young man was reported to the police at half past midnight on 7th April 2005. He was wearing a suit with the labels cut out, dripping wet, and didn’t speak.

Reports later say that he ‘washed up’ out the sea, though this was never proved. it had been raining earlier that evening.

Eye witnesses also reported seeing the man wandering the town for some time.

In any case, the police were concerned for his safety and took him to Medway Maritime Hospital. The man was nervous, shy and seemingly panicked or distressed in some way. He made no signs of understanding or recognising anything. (This may be one of the primary reasons many people believe he had a disorder, such as autism.)

After the man did not seem to have any serious or immediate health conditions, staff took him a pen and paper to see if he would write. This is when he drew the picture of the grand piano, that would become so famous.

This prompted staff to take him to a piano, where he is said to have played concert-standard classical music, especially Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky, for hours. His social worker Michael Camp said, “The first time we took him down to the piano he played for several hours, non-stop.” Michael said that the man does not communicate, but “come alive” when he plays piano.

Of course later many newspapers claimed he could not play at all.

Michael Camp would become instrumental to the story, being one of the man’s closest care workers, and most vocal. It is also thought that the hospital may have later used Michael as a scape-goat from criticism.

The Piano Man mystery in ten years old…

Whether you remember it or not, the case of the ‘Piano Man’ remains one of the most compelling mysteries of all time.

In 7th April 2005, a suited man reportedly ‘washed up’ on the coast of Kent. More accurately, he was seen wondering the streets of Sheppey at gone midnight, dripping wet. 

He was taken to a local hospital by police, and never said a word. He had no discerning marks or features, and many people said that the labels had been cut out of his clothes. 

The hospital staff could not find any immediate hurt, although the man was apparently nervous, and shied away from people. Various theories, from post-traumatic stress to autism, were investigated. 

Still unidentified, the hospital staff took the man a pen and paper to see if he would write. Instead, he drew a detailed picture of a grand piano. 

The man was then take to the hospital chapel, where, according to hospital sources, played Tchaikovsky, amongst other things, to a virtuoso standard. 

With no progress from ongoing treatment, a statement was released to the press to attempt to identify the man. The news of this strange story slowly gripped the world. A helpline was set up, which received numerous (some say 100s, others 1000s) of calls from people claiming to know the man’s identity. 

Many of these leads were investigated – a Czech musician; a missing Algerian; a French mime artist. All to no avail. 

The mystery continued, but with no progress or change in the story, there began to be suggestions of a hoax. 

In August, 4 months after being admitted to hospital, the piano man spoke. It is well documented that a nurse walked in to his room and asked, “So, are you going to talk to me today?” 

To which he replied, “Yes. I think I will.”

The man was confirmed as being 20 year old Andreas Grassl, from Germany. 

Within 24 hours he was flown home. The hospital, family and Andreas himself have refused to comment since, fuelling accusations of fraud, time-wasting and deceit. 

There are many theories about what happened. From a straight hoax, to autism, to an attempted suicide by drowning, to trauma following a break up from a gay lover. And many options in between. Unless Andreas decides to tell his story (and perhaps even then) we will never know the full truth of it. 

This blog is a place to collate all the articles, stories, pictures and evidence that still fascinate people a decade later. This blog is not to vilify or attack any individual, but to explore our interest in human nature; identity; and the mind.