Germany's museum of tombs marks 20th anniversary

By Timo Lindemann Feb 2, 2012, 3:06 GMT

Kassel, Germany - The Museum for Sepulchral Culture in Kassel, central Germany, has been dealing with the theme of death and everything associated with it for the past 20 years. It's the only museum of its kind in Germany and probably the world.

'There are a few museums in the United States that are similar but they are financed by undertaker companies,' says museum director Reiner Soerries.

Soerries is a Protestant theologian and art historian who has been running the museum since it opened. The museum has evolved over the years in unison with developments in funeral traditions, according to the 59-year-old. 'Our job is to ask the questions that people want answers to.'

The hospice philosophy arrived in Germany in the mid-1980s and it brought with it new ways for dealing with death. 'It would not have been possible to open the museum without that change,' says Soerries. The museum was founded along with the Central Institute for Sepulchral Culture by architect Hans-Kurt Boehlke and was opened on 24 January 1992 by the former German President Richard von Weizsaecker.

At first the museum carefully dealt with the theme of death by exhibiting relevant works of art, ornate coffins and mourning jewellery, recalls Soerries. 'The majority of the museum today deals with the theme of tombs.'

With the opening of the 'Last Minute' exhibition in 2000 the museum changed direction. 'People wanted to know more about death.' That trend has continued to this day. 'People are less interested in old coffins and more in what affects them directly.'

One of the questions frequently asked is what is death? The museum sometimes also takes a more light-hearted approach to the topic and in 2004 the 'Schluss mit lustig' (The Party's Over) exhibition was a big success. 'We managed to show a satirical side to death and we also want to hear people laughing in the museum,' says Soerries.

In 2009 the first bodies were seen in the museum in the form of mummies. 'It took us a long time to get that far,' says Soerries. It seems unlikely that the museum will be able to top that, nevertheless, there is 'an immense diversity' of topics that the museum has yet to deal with.

A new special exhibition which has just opened deals with places of execution in the Middle Ages. The medical and philosophical sides to death are two possible future angles the museum may explore. Mourning for people who you never met is another aspect to death that may get the museum's attention in future.

Soerries says he would like the museum to receive more acceptance in the wider community. 'I hope that in the next five years a Jewish or Muslim association will support the museum.' At the moment the German government, the authorities in the state of Hessen, the city of Kassel and the Protestant and Catholic churches provide the museum's outside support.

Between 17,000 and 24,000 people visit the museum every year. That looks set to grow when the Brothers Grimm World opens next door in 2014. But Soerries says he wants the museum to maintain its special character even if many more visitors come.

A milestone in the museum's history was passed with a child-friendly exhibition opened in 2003. 'Since then, children have been celebrating their birthday parties here. We would never have imagined that 20 years ago,' says Soerries.