Ossuary in Hallstatt

The Karner, or Michaelskapelle, stands on the steep slope above Hallstätter See in Upper Austria. It is part of a historic church complex that includes the parish church of the Assumption and a terraced cemetery. The chapel was built in the Middle Ages as a cemetery chapel, its upper floor used for services and the lower for storing bones. The ossuary below holds about 1,200 skulls, 610 of which are painted or inscribed. This is the largest surviving collection of decorated skulls in the eastern Alps. The custom began when space ran short on the casket, so after a decade or two graves were reopened, bones cleaned and stacked, and skulls kept in the ossuary. Inside the chapel’s lower room the skulls are arranged in family groups. Some bear names, dates and crosses; others show laurel leaves, oak branches or ivy. Above, the upper chapel has Gothic details and a Baroque altar from 1612. A stained-glass window shows Saint Michael weighing souls. The site remains a place of memory, not merely a display.