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All Germany Bremen Bleikeller

Bleikeller

Eight naturally mummified bodies in glass coffins are housed in an underground crypt.

Bremen, Germany

Added By
Luis Morato
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One of the mummies contained in the crypt.   Rami Tarawneh/CC BY-SA 2.5
One of the mummies contained in the crypt.   Rami Tarawneh/CC BY-SA 2.5
An image of the crypt from 1910.   Public Domain
The crypt.   Rami Tarawneh/CC BY-SA 2.5
The interiors of the crypt.   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
A mummy contained in the crypt.   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
The interiors of the crypt.   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
A mummy contained in the crypt.   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
A mummy contained in the crypt.   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
The cathedral.   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
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About

When Arp Schnitger, a reputed organ maker working in Germany in the late 17th century, was assigned a portion of a basement crypt of St Peter’s Cathedral in Bremen to work in, little did he expect to find the mummified remains of not one but eight residents of the German city.

The crypt is located beneath the nave of the cathedral and was originally used to store lead which was used for renovations to the roof and other structures, giving the chamber its name: Bleikeller. Either the lead or the dry air of the crypt or a combination of factors are thought to have caused the natural mummification of the corpses, some of which are thought to date back around 400 years. 

Since the moment they were discovered, the mummies have been a source of curiosity for locals and visitors alike. An article in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine from 1859 tells the story of a tourist seeking them out.

The mummies were placed in glass-topped coffins, and today they can be accessed through a separate entrance in the church complex. Each of them has its own story to tell: the body of a man who was fatally shot and has his mouth open as if shouting; a Swedish general and his assistant; an English countess, identified in some places as Lady Stanhope; a murdered student; a citizen of Bremen named Konrad Ehlers; and the last Swedish administrator of the cathedral, Georg Bernhard von Engelbrechten, and his wife.  

Related Tags

Mummies Preservation Death Churches Catacombs And Crypts Hidden Sacred Spaces

Know Before You Go

The cathedral of St. Peter and the Bleikeller are located in the city center of Bremen. You can reach them easily by walking from Bremen Central Rail Station (Bremen Hbf) and trams 4,6 and 8. The Bleikeller is closed during the winter time, so there's no entry from November to April.

Community Contributors

Added By

Luis Morato

Edited By

TheChipalope, erjeffery, Kavya Ram Mohan, Ursula...

  • TheChipalope
  • erjeffery
  • Kavya Ram Mohan
  • Ursula
  • smolfine

Published

September 8, 2017

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Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremen_Cathedral
  • https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleikeller
  • https://izi.travel/en/dd6c-bleikeller-cellar/en
  • https://books.google.com/books?id=vS4ZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA436&dq=Bleikeller+mummies&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiL86P67JPWAhWB8YMKHXBLDKsQ6AEIPTAE#v=onepage&q=Bleikeller%20mummies&f=false
  • https://cityseeker.com/bremen/865405-bleikeller
  • https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=84958943
  • http://blog.bremen-tourismus.de/bleikeller/
Bleikeller
Am Dom 1
Bremen
Germany
53.075348, 8.809056
Visit Website
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