Medieval leper hospital burials found in Lübeck

Graves connected to a medieval leprosarium have been discovered in Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. A human bone was encountered last week during construction of a new “bicycle superhighway” on Ratzeburger Allee just outside the medieval city gates. The police were called at first, and when they determined it was not a criminal issue, archaeologists stepped in to excavate. They found the graves were part of the cemetery of St. Jürgen Siechenhaus (St. Jürgen’s infirmary).

The former Lübeck St. Jürgen leper house, with its associated chapel and cemetery, was located directly in front of the outer Mill Gate in the south of the Hanseatic city. The complex probably originated after 1260, when Bishop John III of Tralau issued a general order for the lepers of the Diocese of Lübeck. This was likely done at the request of the Lübeck Council to prepare for such a leper colony in Lübeck. This is consistent with the decree issued by Bishop Burchard in 1294, which stated that the lepers were to be kept “extra muros civitates Lubicenses murantibus” (outside the walls of the city of Lübeck). The complex was destroyed in the so-called Wullenwever Revolt of 1534 and not rebuilt until 1540 and 1542, before being completely demolished approximately 90 years later, making way for the reinforced city fortifications.

Several previous excavations of the area, usually spurred by utility or construction work, have encountered graves from the leper house cemetery. The skeletal remails were removed, examined and analyzed, but surprisingly, DNA and osteological analyses have not uncovered any direct evidence of leprosy. The skeletons found in the cemetery represent a demographic cross-section of the city, not any one particular group, age or gender dominates. Archaeologists believe St. Jürgen may have had a second role as a hospital for terminally ill patients, not just for lepers.

The previous burials were discovered in 2018, and while construction work has been ongoing since then, there have been no new graves found until this month. The new discoveries prove that the cemetery stretched much farther east than realized.

These are individual, as far as is known, west-east oriented grave pits about 1.30 meters below the current surface. The faint remains of wood suggest that the dead were buried in sawn logs. As in 2018, the graves will be scientifically documented, excavated, and examined in more detail. Only then will it become clear whether these burials were laid down at the same time as those excavated then and whether they confirm or supplement the findings, or provide further new insights.

* This article was originally published here