Many thanks to Jiri Talasek for providing the following biography for Josef Drasal.

Josef Drásal was born 0n 04-07-1841 in Chromec in the Sumperk municipality (Middle Moravia). His father was called Johann and his mother Magdalena and he was born as the third child from six children. When he was born his grandmother predicted him his tallness and power. Father Johann Drásal was a poor needle cutler and the familly was really poor.

When Drásal was young, he was already very tall and unusually strong. According to his mother he often had some pains what doctors explained as effect of his growth.

When he was at primary school, he was able to lift a weight what his father couldn´t. His father sent him to the mill to get some corn and he was able to take 250 kg by hand.

He left local primary school when he was 12, but he was not a good student, he never learned to read and write properly. Probably his rapid growth was the reason for him to be less inteligent than others. His friends in the school could run under his legs and when his mother went to buy some shoes for him, the shoemaker didn´t believe that she wanted the biggest size of shoes for a 12 year old boy, until he saw Josef on his own eyes. The boy was taller than he was. When he left the school he started to work as a labourer in the farmyard in Chromec. After this work he started to work in Zerotin. There he drove horse-drawn carriage and from this place come the most stories about his power and tallness because by this time he had already reached 242 cm and 186 kg.

It was said that he was never full, he always needed more and more food. He ate 3 loafs of bread a day because he worked like three men. He cooked potatoes in the steamer for porks because he did not have a big enough pot. He loved bacon and garlic.

His unusual power was legendary. Rather than using a horse-drawn carriage, he would carry heavy stones to the building site by hand or his shoulders. One time he punched troublesome ox and the ox fell down to the ground. Josef helped the poor ox back to his legs afterwards. When there was a fight in the pub, he would take all fighters by their neck and hrew hem all out. He loved playing a cards and drinking rum. In spite of this he was very good man.

He hadn´t been in military service beacuse of his height, he was very unhappy because of his height and he was ashamed of it. So he went usually with bended knees, trying to look smaller.

He started to work for a circus in Sumperk town but after only three weeks he left. But one man from Holesovice (Janoch) understood that he could make a lot of money because of his height. He persuaded him to exhibit himself again. For the next 20 years he toured around Europe. He visited many countries like is Austria, Germany, France, England, Russia, Turkey and Skandinavia. Unfortunately there is no evidencies of it because his passport disapeared. (Apart from the poster of him visiting London - The Tallest Man). He played in Hanac´s costume and he wore 2 big golden rings. His fingers were really big, 3 cm was the diameter of his finger. For a better effect, some small woman from Protivanov played with him on the stage, she was just over 1 meter tall.

He was also introduced to emperor Napoleon III. And he played in his yard with dwarfes from France chosen just for this occassion. He also played in Berlin before emperor Wilhelm II.

Both of them , Janoch and Drásal, earned a lot of money while touring but when they divided Janoch bought a restaurant in Vienna and Drásal bought a house in Holesivice which cost him 4000 angel nobles. The house was comfortable for him and specially built. But finally he lost all of his money. He lived the rest of his life in this house.

He also wanted to get married but most girls were scared because of his huge body. He chose a giant girl, who was the daughter of a doctor in Vienna. But in the end, the doctor persuaded his duaghter not to marry him. Drasal also had a fling with a girl working as a Berlin circus artist but he didn´t marry her either. Finally, he found a woman who wanted to marryhim and who promised to cook well for him. Her name was Marie Pecenova from Fristat. Unfortunately, this relationship was cut short because of his death.

He never went to a doctor in his life. When he was only 45 years old, he wasn´t be able to sit and he had to lie down in bed. His health rapidly went downhill and after his mother died, his ilness got worse quick. He died on 16-12-1886 because of bloodloss. Before his death London academy asked him for his skeleton and offered him a lot of money money. He refused the offer and in his last will he wished to rest in piece and to have a stone on his grave exactly the same height as he was. His coffin is 3 times bigger than a usual coffin.

In 1922 year his body was exhumed beacuse town was expanding and a new sidewalk needed to be build. His coffin was lifted by 8 men and put in front the entrance of the cemetary for three days. Many peoples saw his remains. After that his bones were put in a small coffin and buried in a grave along the cemetary wall which still exists today.

His remaining were exhumed three times. During the last exhumation in 1967 anthropological measueremets were made in the Anthropology institute of medical faculty of the univercity J.E.Purkyne in the city of Brno. Research found that Drásal had an unusual illness that was the reason of his untimely death and his abnormal growth. Research was done by doc. MUDr. M. Dokládal, CSc. According to him, Drásal was the 15th tallest person who ever lived, and he was the 10th tallest man in Europe. In some of museums, there are some of his personal belongings like staffs, his gold rings, gloves, belt, high shoes, wooden shoes and stick, cast of his hand, his death certificate, photo documentation of exhumation, and his portrait by the painter Zurek. Also in existence is a life size statue.

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[....some older news snipped....]

17-06-2009: Installed discussion forum. You can join it here...

12-06-2009: Started building the website.