Wolhusen Mortuary Chapel

Inside the chapel, the mural is comprised of a series of figures in the classic Dance of Death motif, showing people from all walks of life (kings, bishops, musicians, and peasants) being led away by dancing skeletal figures, each of which has a real human skull set in the plaster where its head should be. The skulls are even situated to match the angle of the skeletons’ poses, with one set in the plaster face first to show the skeleton with its back turned to the viewer.

Details about the Wolhusen Totentanz are hard to come by in English. From what we can gather, it was constructed in 1657 or 1661 by the Wendelin Brotherhood and painted by an unknown artist. After it was completed, it seems to have been forgotten for a century or two until Professor Dr. Rudolf Rahn was credited with “bringing it to the public’s awareness” in 1875. It was then restored three times; 1901, 1958, and lastly in 2006.