The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-01-22
TIE SKULL OF MOZART.
Is Strange History and Resting Plac

% strange history ana Resting Place.
From the London STANDARD.
VIENNA, Dec. 20.-Prof. Hyrtl, the
famous anatomis., who a few days ago
celebrated his SOth birthday, announced
on that occasion, in conversation with ssv-
eral friends. that he had beQueathed in his
will the skull of Mozart, which has been in
his possession for several years, to the mo
zarteum" at Salzburg. 1t has been known
for long time in Vienna that Prof. Hyrtl
had received from his brother, the
late engraver, skull which was be-
iieved to be that of the great
composer. But is it really the skull Of
Mozart Psychologists who have examined
it have doubted II, owing to the absence OF
all peculisrities which, according TO present
theories, should mark the existence Of
musical genius" But these savants were
equally astonished. when the remains OF
Beethoven we're exhumed, to observe that
the skull Of that great master did not
answer the expectations Of the chronological
theorists; 1t was, in fact, rather small,
and might have been supposed to belong
TO a man Of restricted intellect, rather than
to genius like the great master.
Similar results were arrived ct In
measuring the skulls of Haydn and Schubert,
and in this way those who were skeptical
as to the genuineness OF Prof. HyrtIs
stated that Mozart's widow, who long sur
vtved him, did not know the exact spot in
the St. Mary cemetery where her husband
was inferred how, therefore, could any one
else, at later period, know the locality?
Ii was, moreover, supposed that the skull
was severed from the rest of the skeleton.
There was, for time. oven a doubt
whether Mozart was inferred IN st. Marx
south of Vienna. or elsewhere, but an entry
in aosuk Of hn nf
St. Stephens settled this point. This
entry, dated Dec. 6, 1901, says;
"Died the previous day the Hon.
Herr Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. imperial
and royal conductor and court composer,
in the house called 'Kleines Kaiserhaus, No.
$40 Rauhensteingasse. aged SO; cause of
death, high malaI ia fever buried in ceme-
terry of st. Marx; third-class burial, for
which paid forms SO kreuzers, a I'd for the
carriage forms" In the university
library there was found an article in the
VdtertGadische BLdtter, written in 1903, in
which a contemporary of Mozart wrote ::
His widow was, Immediately after he
breathed his last, taken seriously i'll, and
could not attend the funeral or occupy herr
self with the arrangements for it. Baron
Gottfried van Swieten. son of the
celebrated Gerhard van Swieten, under
took the management, and as he wanted to
economic in the interest Of the widow, who
was quite destitute, he arranged for the in
torment in a common grave. and not even
the luxury ofs a stone or tablet showing
which common grave it was did he give him
SO that the widow reproached him atterward
with not knowing where to go to pray for
her husband. The gravedlgger pretends TO
know by the date of the burial that the
common grave which incloses Mozart's
remains must be either In the third or in
the fourth row counted from the
cross, and as these common graves
are turned over periodically, the next
digging up taking piece eight years hence
(1Sl6), It would be very fortunate IL by
some special sign at least the skull of the
great composer could be discovered and pre-
served" This gravedigger of st. Marx
said in 1916 to still living army officer
that Mozarts grave was on the left side
from the entrance, in the sixth row from
the cross, and that it was the eighth in the
common shaft, determination of the place
more distinct than any former one.
Prof. Hyrtl has some additional reasons
for believing that he really possesses the
skull of Mozart, and his account, romantic
as it would seem, is apparently convincing.
According to this, mass was being cele-
brated in one of the churches of the suburb
Landstrasse, when gardeners son, upon
| whom the music had made a great impress
sion, became more interested in 1t on being
| told that 1t was composed by boy of his
; own age, a certain Mozart. This gardeners
son was afterward appointed gravedigger
at st. Marx, and when on a stormy Decem-
Der day a third class hearse halted be-
fore the churchyard door with single
coffin, destined for a common grave, and
he found on piece of paper handed to him
the name Mozart, he remembered the COM
poser of that name, whose mass he had
heard in his youth, and thought of the pos
sibility of the dead man being the same.
The common grave then in use was nearly
full, only one more place being left; the
coffin was therefore placed in it as the up
permost, and the gravedigger noted that
circumstance in a calendar, with the
intention of informing himself later
whether the Mozart in the grave was
identical with the composer. Ten
years passed, and this grave was re-
dug. The digger, remembering the COM
poser Mozart, and the exact place in which
he had put his coffin, took the uppermost
skull, wrapped It in linen and kept it In q
cupboard at his house, showing it only to
his most intimate friends. The finding OF
the skull was recorded in toe calendar, and
when the gravedigger died his successor
found both the skull and the calendar where
| they had been deposited. The new grave
digger being lover Of music, kept them
| with reverence exceeding even that of his
predecessor.
The cemetery was visited frequently by
the engraver, Hyrtl, owing to its contain
| ing his mothers remains. One evening
| being overtaken there by terrible storm,
he was invited by the gravedigger into his
| dwelling, where he was shown the sup
posed skull of Mozart which was subse-
| Quently presented to him, the engraver
Hyrtl having mentioned that his brother,
the professor, was phrenologist. and that
to him the skull of Mozart would be of The
| greatest interest. In this way the Hyrtls
I came into possession of the relic, and the
professor, who wanted to verify the story Of
the gravedigger about his predecessor, sent
his brother. the engraver, to an official in
| the town hall who kept the records of the
| st. Marx cemetery. This official, instead
| CT giving information, abused the en-
| graver, telling him that no one had right
| to possess a skull which ought to rest in
consecrated earth, and threatening both
the engraver and the gravedigger with
serious consequences for keeping the skull
| without giving information TO the
authorities. Herr Hyrtl, the engraver,
thereupon reclaimed the skull from
his brother, the professor, under
| the plea that he must return 1t to the grave
digger, and he afterward said that they had
thrown it into the Danube to avoid further
| inconvenience. But when the engraver,
Hyrtl, died the skull was found wrapped in
old paper on his premises. The professor
Immediately recognized it as the same he