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Alexander von Meilenwald

German musician

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 17, 2025
Entity authorityQ4720533 ↗
Source-derived summary

Alexander von Meilenwald (German: [ˈmaɪlənvalt]; born 1978) is a German multi-instrumentalist and vocalist known for his former band Nagelfar and his project The Ruins of Beverast.

Biography

Meilenwald was born in Aachen. At the age of 15, he read an interview with Darkthrone member Nocturno Culto which fascinated him, after he had realised the supposedly extreme band Cannibal Corpse were "just normal metalheads". He then bought Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky and believed "that this must be music made by deranged people". He got to know Sveinn Hackelnberg and founded Nagelfar with him and two other members.

In April 2002, Nagelfar disbanded, a decision that surprised the scene. Years later, Meilenwald explained that Zorn had told Nagelfar vocalist Zingultus and him that he lacked the energy and motivation he would have needed for Nagelfar, and Zorn and Meilenwald had decided that the band would not exist without one of them. Nagelfar refuse any offers for reunion concerts.

After the band's breakup, Meilenwald went on to form the one-man band The Ruins of Beverast and became the drummer of Heemat and a session member of Kermania (whose leader Weigand is influenced by early Nagelfar) and Truppensturm. He, Zingultus and Hackelnberg founded the Wòd-Ván, a group of black metal fans mainly (but not exclusively) from the region around Aachen.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Alexander von Meilenwald” as german musician. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Alexander, Meilenwald and German.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1978, 2002—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1978-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Alexander, Meilenwald and German providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Alexander von Meilenwald”, the useful work is to connect “german musician” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 17, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q4720533. VIAF identifies the subject as 79992965. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1978 and 2002.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Alexander von Meilenwald”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Alexander von Meilenwald primary sources, Alexander von Meilenwald archive and Alexander research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Alexander von Meilenwald”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Alexander von Meilenwald” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.