Photo: Martin Reiter

Monumentaler Totentanz der Gegenwart

Kramsach, Tyrol

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If it's up to the president of the European Dance of Death Association, Siegmund Kogler from Metnitz, then the Dance of Death cycle titled "Das Letzte" (The Last) unveiled at the Museumsfriedhof in Kramsach is the most monumental of its kind worldwide. Kogler points out that Dances of Death originated in the late Middle Ages. Starting from France, the aim was to show people – regardless of their social standing – their transience in text and image. Nevertheless, "people who intensely deal with death are cheerful people," says Kogler, quoting the founder of the Dance of Death Association, Karl Josef Steininger from Dachau.At the suggestion of Sagzahnschmied Hans Guggenberger, sculptor Markus Thurner from Maurach am Achensee created 20 modern Dance of Death panels, which are interrupted by schemata. These faces are unleashed physiognomy. They make the text visible, which prophesies an unavoidable fate for humanity in our time. As in Dante's Divine Comedy, here too the tormentors seem tormented by their own deeds. Thurner: "Death comes to dance, death bends over a sleeping person, it appears in a terrifying way, emerges insidiously from the background and it reaches for you – it reaches for every single person! It is a MEMENTO MORI!"The Dance of Death "Das Letzte" is 40 meters long and has an area of 60 m². It is thus the most monumental and modern in the world. It was designed by Markus Thurner and then manufactured in Corten steel with the employees of Sagzahnschmiede Kramsach. The text, written in verses, comes from the well-known German cabaret artist Wilfried Schmickler.With this Dance of Death depiction, a long-cherished wish came true for Hans Guggenberger and Martin Reiter, board members of the Museumsfriedhof Tirol association. Martin Reiter from the Museumsfriedhof Tirol association: "Our president Hans Guggenberger is the driving force that made the Dance of Death DAS LETZTE possible, because he always had the wish for a contemporary Dance of Death depiction, which should form a transition from the here and now, into the curious Museumsfriedhof, with the funny to ironic grave inscriptions of our ancestors."The Museumsfriedhof is now richer by a globally unique attraction. Around 180,000 visitors per year enjoy this unique facility.Admission price: Maintenance contribution € 4.00 per person.