The Tale of Carl Tanzler and His Undying Love
October will be over soon but I still have some spooky posts to share! This past weekend, I was having a conversation with my good friend Jenny and somehow the story of Carl Tanzler came up.
To my surprise, Jenny (who is also a lover of all that is creepy & paranormal) was unfamiliar with the name “Carl Tanzler” and so, I thought, perhaps most people are.
Well, not to worry because I am here to tell you this story that is 100% true and hard to believe. Sit back and read on below to learn more about who Carl Tanzler was and what did he did to earn his uhh notoriety, if you want to call it that.
Carl Tanzler (pictured below) was born in 1877 in Germany. As a young boy, he had visions of a beautiful dark-haired girl, and Tanzler was convinced that this was to be his one true love.
He eventually got married, had children, and emigrated with his family to Florida. However, after he took a job as a radiologic technician in Key West, for some reason, he left his family.
Before I go on further, let me say that Tanzler was already showing some signs of being a wack job. For one, he lied about being a count (amongst other things). However, this will be the least concerning thing about Tanzler, by far.
Tanzler in 1940
But back to the story. Tanzler was working at the U.S Marine hospital when in walked Elena de Hoyos, a beautiful dark-haired woman that looked like the girl in Tanzler’s visions. De Hoyos was Cuban American and was brought to the hospital by her mother after becoming ill.
Convinced that was his true love, Tanzler became OBSESSED. The problem? De Hoyos was dying and most importantly, she was not really that interested in the strange old white man’s affections.
She was diagnosed with tuberculosis-a disease that was still fatal back in the early 1900s (these events occurred in the late 1920s and early 1930s). This did not deter Tanzler. Although he was not a doctor, he decided he was going to save de Hoyos (Insert eye roll here)
He dedicated all his time, money, and energy to this. He made medicines, tinctures, and more in an effort to rid her of her disease. He even showered with her gifts.
I’m going to input my own personal opinion in here and say that I’m sure de Hoyo’s family thought this was strange AF, but since he was trying to save her life and even bringing in hospital equipment into her home, I don’t think they were ever in a position to really say no. But by all accounts, de Hoyos (seen below) never reciprocated the affection.
Tragically, Tanzler’s efforts failed and de Hoyos died on October 25, 1931.
Elena de hoyos