Museumsportal Berlin

The Arbeitsgemeinschaft Sepulkralkultur der Neuzeit (a work group on sepulchral culture in the modern era) was founded in Berlin in 2009 with the aim of exploring different aspects of death and dying in the early modern era. This exhibition presents the results of various interdisciplinary projects in three sections.

The first section takes a closer look at the life and death of Konrad von Burgsdorff. The discovery of his tin sarcophagus in Berlin was widely reported in the media in 2009. After undergoing conservation at the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, it is now open for public viewing for the first time. The central theme of the second section is an old custom viewed from the perspective of archaeology and ethnology. The 'marriage of the dead' ceremony is a phenomenon that appears in many cultures. Part of the ritual involves 'death crowns' placed in the graves of those who had died unmarried or displayed as memorials in churches. The third section investigates the development of the use of crypts as burial places, examining individual aspects within the broader context of cultural history supported by finds from crypts in Berlin, e.g., from the Parochialkirche.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a two-day seminar from 12 to 14 January 2012 at the Pergamon Museum.