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Archaeologist Laurin Stöckert is uncovering human remains in the former Freiburg leprosy cemetery
Photo: Philipp von Ditfurth / dpa
An underground car park is actually to be built here - in the middle of Freiburg, only a few meters from the banks of the Dreisam river.
But at the end of April 2020 the project stalled, the construction workers had stumbled upon human bones.
Both the police and the State Office for Monument Preservation were called.
And it quickly turned out: the skeleton is not a case for justice, but one for archeology.
Since then, archaeologists have been digging up the ground with trowels and brushes.
Again and again new skull bones were exposed.
They have unearthed more than 400 skeletons at the construction site since last year.
The researchers were quickly certain: the dead must have suffered a cruel fate.
In the immediate vicinity of the site, once an old cemetery, there used to be a leprosy hospice.
Most of the dead were therefore lepers, as it was called at the time - and suffered from the disfiguring infectious disease.
It was known that there was a leper or manor house in Freiburg.
In the Middle Ages the sick were called good people because it was believed that one should go to heaven as their benefactor.
Written sources mention the facility in Freiburg for the first time as early as 1251.
In 1632, during the Thirty Years War, it burned down.
The bone find was therefore no surprise, as Bertram Jenisch from the State Office for Monument Preservation in the Stuttgart Regional Council says.
But not only leprosy sufferers were buried here.
The experts found evidence of the sexually transmitted disease syphilis on some bones.
They identified other dead people on the basis of buttons and remains of uniforms as French soldiers who must have died in 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession and the siege of Freiburg.
The excavation, which is now about to be completed, also provided interesting insights into the beliefs and superstitions of the people of the time: For example, a decapitated person was buried with a stone between his head and neck - presumably so that the body would not grow back together, Jenisch suspects.
According to the monuments office, the medieval leprosy cemetery in Freiburg is one of the best-studied graves of this type in Germany. The skeletons were also recovered according to the most modern standards, says Jenisch.
For example, soil samples were taken around the stomach area, which can be examined for residues of intestinal bacteria.
"We're hoping to draw conclusions about diseases." He has already received inquiries from international research projects.
Archaeological finds of such leprosy burials are also indirectly important for today's treatment of leprosy, explains the chairman of the Society for Leprosy, Ralf Klötzer.
One can see that some lepers survived with severe symptoms and others with only mild symptoms died of other causes.
There are many leprosy cemeteries in Germany.
According to Klötzer, the archaeological evaluation is only of interest in the rare so well-conserving soil conditions in the absence of air.
From his point of view, the most important aspects of historical research are the recognizability of leprosy symptoms on the skeletons, the age of the dead and the causes of death of other buried persons.
Rotten alive
Leprosy is one of the oldest known infectious diseases.
And especially insidious.
It was considered a terrible death because the living victims rot.
The bacterium Mycobacterium leprae affects the skin and nervous system and invades the body.
However, it can take years before the disease is noticed.
Over time, bumps and lumps form on the skin and, in the long term, nerve damage, and those affected lose feeling in their hands or feet.
There is no vaccine, but today leprosy can be cured with the help of antibiotics and chemotherapy.
While the disease disappeared in Germany 300 years ago, hundreds of thousands of people are newly infected every year around the world - mainly in tropical and subtropical countries in the southern hemisphere.
According to the preservation officers, the bones from Freiburg will initially come to Constance. An anthropologist will clean, measure and analyze them there. For some, the exact age should also be dated. The State Office takes care of the other finds such as coffin nails, amulets and remains of rosaries. These pieces may be seen in museums - unlike the human remains. "The respectful interaction forbids that," says Jenisch. "These are not show pieces, not museum exhibits."
The excavations made him thoughtful, not least because of the corona pandemic, says the expert.
Leper houses were at the gates of the city.
Those who had to go there received the sacraments beforehand.
"He was legally considered dead," emphasizes Jenisch.
"No comparison when you look at how people are treated today who are infected with a highly contagious disease."
joe / dpa