"Bone house" Saint Michaels Chapel, Hallstatt, Austria
N 47° 33.817 E 013° 38.921
33T E 398351 N 5268684
Ossuary near the catholic church in Hallstatt, Upper Austria.
Waymark Code: WMPHF3
Location: Oberösterreich, Austria
Date Posted: 09/02/2015
Views: 10
Citated description from the official website:
"Hallstatt's 'Bone House' has been in existence since 12 AD. Kept in this charnel house are 1200 human skulls. 610 of them have been hand-painted, have been arranged according to individual family groups, and the dats of death marked on them.
As the grave yard in Hallstatt is very small and there is no space to make it larger. In former times, cremation was not allowed, and there was already a serious lack of space for new graves to be dug. 10 to 15 years after a burial, therefore, graves had to be re-opened, and the skulls and long bones which took up so much space were removed. The skulls were 'cleansed' and then left outside in the sun and moonlight until all that remained of these gruesome skulls was a smooth 'ivory'. The most recent addition to the Bone House was in 1995 and this skull has been placed to the right of the cross. A lady passed away in 1983 and it had been her personal wish to have her skull placed in the Bone House."
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