Andreas Grassl
Encyclopedia
Andreas Grassl is a German
man found in England
in April 2005, who remained unidentified for a long time due to his refusal to speak, communicating instead through drawing and playing the piano
. During the more than four months that passed until he revealed his identity, the mysterious story spawned media attention and speculation across the world, dubbing him the Piano Man.
When Grassl was picked up by police on 7 April 2005, he was wandering the streets in Sheerness
, Kent
, in England
, wearing a soaking wet suit and tie, and he did not answer any questions. Remaining silent, he was presented a pen and paper by Medway Maritime Hospital
staff in the hope he would write his name. Instead, he drew a detailed sketch of a grand piano. When they first brought him to a piano, he reportedly played music from various genres (ranging from classical music by Tchaikovsky
to pop music by The Beatles
) non-stop for four hours, and then was taken away by the hospital staff.
The West Kent
NHS
and Social Care Trust
, and the local police received what they described as an "overwhelming" public response, receiving over 800 calls on a dedicated helpline.
Grassl's picture was posted on the UK charity Missing People's website (formerly the National Missing Persons Helpline
). On 18 May 2005, a Polish man working as a mime artist
in Rome approached Italian police officers, believing the Piano Man to be a French busker called Steven Villa Masson. However, the British newspaper The Independent
tracked down Masson to his home in France, thus ruling out this lead.
Italian television stations showed footage of a concert pianist with a resemblance to the Piano Man—the pictures were filmed at an instrument fair in Rimini
five years earlier. Observers found his hair different, but his nose and facial structure very similar. He also stayed silent. British tabloids also suggested a link to a man last seen in Canada
two years previously, Sywald Skeid (then known as Philip Staufen), who had wandered into a Toronto
emergency department
apparently suffering from amnesia
. His true identity was revealed in a GQ magazine article as in fact Sywald Skeid.
BBC News reported on 29 May 2005 that a Czech musician called Klaudius Kryšpín, the drummer of a Czech rock band Pražský výběr ("Prague Selection"), had rung the helpline, offering information that Piano Man might be a pianist called Tomáš Strnad, who along with Kryšpín was a member of the tribute band Ropotamo in the 1980s. Also, Klaudius Kryšpín's twin brother Richard who lives in Columbus, Ohio
confirmed that Piano Man had a striking resemblance to Strnad. Another person who argued that Strnad might have been Piano Man was Michael Kocáb, the singer of Pražský výběr and a former adviser of Václav Havel
. A problem with this theory was that Kocáb argued that he met Strnad on 10 April 2005 near Prague (three days after the Piano Man was found in England). Even though the West Kent NHS Trust described this as a "promising lead" and reportedly planned to bring in a Czech interpreter, this theory (like the theory that it was Steven Villa Masson, above) was dashed when Tomáš Strnad was found and interviewed on Czech TV.
On 3 June 2005, Dateline NBC
, the American
NBC
network's investigative news magazine, featured the story of the Piano Man as its top story.
On 24 June 2005, Susanne Schlippe Steffensen (Dansk Folkeparti), a local council member of the Danish municipality
of Karlebo
, near Copenhagen
, made a claim on Danish TV 2/Lorry, that the Piano Man was in fact her Algeria
n-born husband. Steffensen had not seen her husband since February, when he had travelled to Algeria to visit his sick mother. "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", she said to TV 2/Lorry. Steffensen's theory was that her husband had travelled to England due to a conflict with his family. According to Steffensen the family was unhappy with the fact that he was married to a western woman. "I think he has fled for his life. He has previously received death threats," said Steffensen. She went to England to meet her claimed husband, but according to Steffensen the hospital did not allow her to meet him.
On 2 July 2005, BBC News reported that the Piano Man, when shown a map, pointed to Oslo
, the capital of Norway
. A Norwegian
speaking person was brought in to open communications. According to the report the Piano Man seemed more responsive when Norwegian was spoken even though he remained unable or unwilling to speak. The theory was further strengthened by claims that a Norwegian vessel
was in the area at the time the man was discovered.
According to media reports, the Piano Man also made a drawing of the Swedish flag after coming to the hospital. This led to speculation that he had lived in one of the Scandinavia
n countries.
Between 4 July and 6 July, students from Norway said they knew the man in question as an exchange student from Ireland
. These beliefs and possible leads were dashed when Norwegian papers were able to contact the man whom the Piano Man was thought to be.
but it was at the time thought he might be an autistic savant. Autistic savants can display extraordinary but highly specific talents, while at the same time remaining withdrawn or uncommunicative to the point of constant silence. The trust refused to officially comment on the young man's treatment beyond saying that his physical health remained good, but it was understood he was showing increasing signs of a rapport with a small number of trusted caregivers.
tabloid newspaper The Mirror
reported that the Piano Man had finally broken his silence after more than four months, and that he had been exposed as a hoax. Additionally, the Mirrors source claimed that he did not play the piano properly, but "just kept tapping one key continuously." Hospital staff have maintained that his abilities were not exaggerated.
The Mirror article claimed that the Piano Man had told the medical staff that he was a gay
German
man, who had come to Britain on a Eurostar
train after losing his job in Paris. According to the newspaper's source, the man claimed that he had been planning to commit suicide when he was discovered on the beach in Sheerness, that he did not talk to the police due to his distressed state, and that he then continued to act mute. The unnamed source also suggested that the Piano Man used to work with the mentally ill, and thus was able to mimic their behaviour, thereby fooling the hospital staff. According to the tabloids, he has been flown back to Germany where his father (a farmer) and his two sisters live.
Later the same day the BBC
reported that the German foreign ministry
had confirmed that the man was a 20-year-old Bavaria
n who had flown home on 20 August. The German embassy in London confirmed that they had been contacted by the Little Brook Hospital, confirmed the man's identity and provided him with replacement travel documents.
Following the media reports, the West Kent NHS and Social Care Trust issued a statement stating that the man was no longer in the care of the trust, that he had been "discharged from [their] care following a marked improvement in his condition," and that their "involvement with this man has now ceased and will not be resuming at any stage." The statement also expressed that no further information was to be released.
In a follow-up to the story on 24 August, The Mirror named the man as Andreas Grassl and published an interview with his parents, farmers in Prosdorf, a village belonging to Waldmünchen
in the Cham
district of the Upper Palatinate
in eastern Bavaria
. According to the interview, their son had upon his return told them that he had "no idea what happened to me. I just suddenly woke up and realised who I was." Grassl's father expressed anger with some allegations made in the original Mirror article, in particular the suggestions that his son's behaviour during treatment was not genuine. "I know he would never make something like this up," the father said. He denied that his son was gay
, and told the newspaper that his son in fact was an accomplished piano player, albeit not to a professional standard. Grassl's lawyer said he might have experienced a psychotic episode
.
After working with disabled people in Saarbrücken
, Grassl apparently told his parents that he intended to leave to study in France
. After that, his parents had not been able to reach him. They had reported him missing, but they did not see nor recognise the pictures of their son that were distributed around the world.
Friends of Andreas Grassl told The Times
that he'd spent hours in internet
chat room
s, where he was known as "Scatman," and that he was a columnist
for a local newspaper, writing about pop music
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
man found in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in April 2005, who remained unidentified for a long time due to his refusal to speak, communicating instead through drawing and playing the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. During the more than four months that passed until he revealed his identity, the mysterious story spawned media attention and speculation across the world, dubbing him the Piano Man.
When Grassl was picked up by police on 7 April 2005, he was wandering the streets in Sheerness
Sheerness
Sheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island....
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, wearing a soaking wet suit and tie, and he did not answer any questions. Remaining silent, he was presented a pen and paper by Medway Maritime Hospital
Medway Maritime Hospital
Medway Maritime Hospital is a general hospital in Gillingham, England within the NHS South East Coast. It is run by Medway NHS which is a foundation trust. It is Kent's largest and busiest hospital, dealing with around 400,000 patients annually. It was founded as the Royal Naval Hospital in 1902...
staff in the hope he would write his name. Instead, he drew a detailed sketch of a grand piano. When they first brought him to a piano, he reportedly played music from various genres (ranging from classical music by Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
to pop music by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
) non-stop for four hours, and then was taken away by the hospital staff.
Tracing the 'Piano Man'
For several months, Grassl was interned in a secure mental health unit in north Kent while he was being treated and evaluated. Interpreters were unable to discover if he was from Eastern Europe. Orchestras around Europe were contacted in a bid to trace his identity.The West Kent
West Kent
West Kent and East Kent are one-time traditional subdivisions of the English county of Kent, kept alive by the Association of the Men of Kent and Kentish Men: an organisation formed in 1913....
NHS
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
and Social Care Trust
NHS Trust
A National Health Service trust provides services on behalf of the National Health Service in England and NHS Wales.The trusts are not trusts in the legal sense but are in effect public sector corporations. Each trust is headed by a board consisting of executive and non-executive directors, and is...
, and the local police received what they described as an "overwhelming" public response, receiving over 800 calls on a dedicated helpline.
Grassl's picture was posted on the UK charity Missing People's website (formerly the National Missing Persons Helpline
National Missing Persons Helpline
Missing People is a British charity that offers a lifeline for the 250,000 people who run away and go missing each year.-Mission:...
). On 18 May 2005, a Polish man working as a mime artist
Mime artist
A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer...
in Rome approached Italian police officers, believing the Piano Man to be a French busker called Steven Villa Masson. However, the British newspaper The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
tracked down Masson to his home in France, thus ruling out this lead.
Italian television stations showed footage of a concert pianist with a resemblance to the Piano Man—the pictures were filmed at an instrument fair in Rimini
Rimini
Rimini is a medium-sized city of 142,579 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa...
five years earlier. Observers found his hair different, but his nose and facial structure very similar. He also stayed silent. British tabloids also suggested a link to a man last seen in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
two years previously, Sywald Skeid (then known as Philip Staufen), who had wandered into a Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
emergency department
Emergency department
An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
apparently suffering from amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
. His true identity was revealed in a GQ magazine article as in fact Sywald Skeid.
BBC News reported on 29 May 2005 that a Czech musician called Klaudius Kryšpín, the drummer of a Czech rock band Pražský výběr ("Prague Selection"), had rung the helpline, offering information that Piano Man might be a pianist called Tomáš Strnad, who along with Kryšpín was a member of the tribute band Ropotamo in the 1980s. Also, Klaudius Kryšpín's twin brother Richard who lives in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
confirmed that Piano Man had a striking resemblance to Strnad. Another person who argued that Strnad might have been Piano Man was Michael Kocáb, the singer of Pražský výběr and a former adviser of Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
. A problem with this theory was that Kocáb argued that he met Strnad on 10 April 2005 near Prague (three days after the Piano Man was found in England). Even though the West Kent NHS Trust described this as a "promising lead" and reportedly planned to bring in a Czech interpreter, this theory (like the theory that it was Steven Villa Masson, above) was dashed when Tomáš Strnad was found and interviewed on Czech TV.
On 3 June 2005, Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
, the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
network's investigative news magazine, featured the story of the Piano Man as its top story.
On 24 June 2005, Susanne Schlippe Steffensen (Dansk Folkeparti), a local council member of the Danish municipality
Municipalities of Denmark
This is a list of Municipalities of Denmark.-Region Hovedstaden:* Albertslund Municipality* Allerød Municipality* Ballerup Municipality* Bornholm Regional Municipality* Brøndby Municipality* Copenhagen Municipality* Dragør Municipality* Egedal Municipality...
of Karlebo
Karlebo
Karlebo Kommune was until January 1, 2007 a municipality in Frederiksborg County on the east coast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark....
, near Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, made a claim on Danish TV 2/Lorry, that the Piano Man was in fact her Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
n-born husband. Steffensen had not seen her husband since February, when he had travelled to Algeria to visit his sick mother. "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", she said to TV 2/Lorry. Steffensen's theory was that her husband had travelled to England due to a conflict with his family. According to Steffensen the family was unhappy with the fact that he was married to a western woman. "I think he has fled for his life. He has previously received death threats," said Steffensen. She went to England to meet her claimed husband, but according to Steffensen the hospital did not allow her to meet him.
On 2 July 2005, BBC News reported that the Piano Man, when shown a map, pointed to Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, the capital of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. A Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
speaking person was brought in to open communications. According to the report the Piano Man seemed more responsive when Norwegian was spoken even though he remained unable or unwilling to speak. The theory was further strengthened by claims that a Norwegian vessel
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
was in the area at the time the man was discovered.
According to media reports, the Piano Man also made a drawing of the Swedish flag after coming to the hospital. This led to speculation that he had lived in one of the Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n countries.
Between 4 July and 6 July, students from Norway said they knew the man in question as an exchange student from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. These beliefs and possible leads were dashed when Norwegian papers were able to contact the man whom the Piano Man was thought to be.
Diagnoses
Diagnoses of his condition initially focused on post-traumatic stress disorderPost-traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumaticstress disorder is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity,...
but it was at the time thought he might be an autistic savant. Autistic savants can display extraordinary but highly specific talents, while at the same time remaining withdrawn or uncommunicative to the point of constant silence. The trust refused to officially comment on the young man's treatment beyond saying that his physical health remained good, but it was understood he was showing increasing signs of a rapport with a small number of trusted caregivers.
Return to Germany
On 22 August, the BritishGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
tabloid newspaper The Mirror
The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror is a British national daily tabloid newspaper which was founded in 1903. Twice in its history, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was changed to read simply The Mirror, which is how the paper is often referred to in popular parlance. It had an...
reported that the Piano Man had finally broken his silence after more than four months, and that he had been exposed as a hoax. Additionally, the Mirrors source claimed that he did not play the piano properly, but "just kept tapping one key continuously." Hospital staff have maintained that his abilities were not exaggerated.
The Mirror article claimed that the Piano Man had told the medical staff that he was a gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
man, who had come to Britain on a Eurostar
Eurostar
Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
train after losing his job in Paris. According to the newspaper's source, the man claimed that he had been planning to commit suicide when he was discovered on the beach in Sheerness, that he did not talk to the police due to his distressed state, and that he then continued to act mute. The unnamed source also suggested that the Piano Man used to work with the mentally ill, and thus was able to mimic their behaviour, thereby fooling the hospital staff. According to the tabloids, he has been flown back to Germany where his father (a farmer) and his two sisters live.
Later the same day the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
reported that the German foreign ministry
Foreign Office (Germany)
The Foreign Office is the foreign ministry of Germany, a federal agency responsible for both the country's foreign politics and its relationship with the European Union. From 1871 to 1919, it was led by a Foreign Secretary, and since 1919, it has been led by the Foreign Minister of Germany...
had confirmed that the man was a 20-year-old Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n who had flown home on 20 August. The German embassy in London confirmed that they had been contacted by the Little Brook Hospital, confirmed the man's identity and provided him with replacement travel documents.
Following the media reports, the West Kent NHS and Social Care Trust issued a statement stating that the man was no longer in the care of the trust, that he had been "discharged from [their] care following a marked improvement in his condition," and that their "involvement with this man has now ceased and will not be resuming at any stage." The statement also expressed that no further information was to be released.
In a follow-up to the story on 24 August, The Mirror named the man as Andreas Grassl and published an interview with his parents, farmers in Prosdorf, a village belonging to Waldmünchen
Waldmünchen
Waldmünchen is a town in the district of Cham, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated near the border with the Czech Republic, 18 km north of Cham, and 18 km southwest of Domažlice....
in the Cham
Cham (district)
Cham is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Regen, Straubing-Bogen, Regensburg and Schwandorf and by the Czech Plzeň Region.- History :...
district of the Upper Palatinate
Upper Palatinate
The Upper Palatinate is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of Bavaria.- History :The region took its name first in the early 16th century, because it was by the Treaty of Pavia one of the main portions of the territory of the Wittelsbach Elector...
in eastern Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. According to the interview, their son had upon his return told them that he had "no idea what happened to me. I just suddenly woke up and realised who I was." Grassl's father expressed anger with some allegations made in the original Mirror article, in particular the suggestions that his son's behaviour during treatment was not genuine. "I know he would never make something like this up," the father said. He denied that his son was gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, and told the newspaper that his son in fact was an accomplished piano player, albeit not to a professional standard. Grassl's lawyer said he might have experienced a psychotic episode
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
.
After working with disabled people in Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
, Grassl apparently told his parents that he intended to leave to study in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. After that, his parents had not been able to reach him. They had reported him missing, but they did not see nor recognise the pictures of their son that were distributed around the world.
Friends of Andreas Grassl told The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
that he'd spent hours in internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
chat room
Chat room
The term chat room, or chatroom, is primarily used by mass media to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing...
s, where he was known as "Scatman," and that he was a columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
for a local newspaper, writing about pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
.
News reports prior to identification
- Aftenposten: "Ex-students recognize "Piano Man'"
- CNN: Silent 'piano man' baffles medics
- The Globe and Mail: Piano player man of mystery
- BBC: 'Piano Mayged in Italy?
- Doctors fear mute 'Piano Man' will never be identified.
- Guardian: Do you know this man? Mystery of the silent, talented piano player who lives for his music.
- Guardian: What is wrong with the piano man?