Andreas Grassl

Andreas Grassl (born 25 October 1984) 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 over four months that passed until he revealed his identity, the mysterious story spawned media attention and speculation across the world and dubbed 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.

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 his origin. Orchestras around Europe were contacted in a bid to trace his identity.

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.

The story was broken when a social worker contacted the Daily Mail for help. A local photographer named Mike Gunnill was commissioned to take photographs. This proved difficult at first but Gunnill in the end managed to photograph Grassl when he left the hospital for his usual daily walk around the grounds. All this was arranged by the social worker. While waiting, the social worker gave the photographer the "mystery man's" sketch book. The only sketch worth copying was a large image of a grand piano. The rest of the book were just lines and doodles, despite comments later there was no flag image in the book.

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