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Beinhaus: The Bone House

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becks
becks
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5 out of 5
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Hallstatt Bone House

  • May 3, 2007
  • Rated 5 of 5 by becks from Mexico City, Mexico
Hallstatt Bone House

A popular sight in Hallstatt is the Gothic Roman Catholic Parish Church a few flights of stairs up from the Marktplatz. In addition to the Gothic building, some fine altars, and late Gothic frescoes, the place is popular for its skulls. A little graveyard is adjacent to the church but it is unremarkable. The real attraction is the Bone House in the Michaelskapelle (St Michael Chapel). In Austria, graves are sold on a fixed term basis—usually 25 years—and when the time is up, someone must pay to renew the lease or the lot is resold.

Due to the lack of space in the local graveyard, bodies here were traditionally exhumed after a decade or so. The remaining bones were placed in this chapel with the skulls cleaned and provided with the person’s name, date of death and some other decorations. Painting flowers and other decorations started in 1720. Since the mid-20th century, skulls are only cleaned and placed here if a local inhabitant requested it in writing in his/her will. The youngest skull is of a woman who died in 1983. A golden tooth survived, too, making her skull easy enough to find.

The different decorations painted on the skulls have special meanings. Laurel leaves indicate victory, ivy leaves indicate life, oak leaves fame, and roses love. The latter mostly red and pink flowers are not restricted to female skulls either.

I never had a particular desire to see skulls or skeletons but found this chapel interesting nonetheless. Not having any relatives here, I did not experience any emotional connection with the death. Although this chapel is in no way sterilized, it is not in anyway tasteless either.

It is a steep climb up the most direct route from the Marktplatz to the church, but fine views can be enjoyed along the way. Returning to the lake, I somehow missed the first flight of stairs and found that a longer route had fewer stairs and passes through the back streets of Hallstatt. It served up unexpected treasures, too; turn a corner and be surprised by a stream or waterfall, lovely views down narrow alleys of the lake, windows with complexly-weaved lace curtains, unexpected peaks through open doors into the life of local families, and a chef, knowing that the first patrons are still an hour or more away, using the opportunity to yell at an assistant on his inability to clean the vegetables properly.

From journal Hallstatt & Salzburger Land

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