5 ° 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
THE MORTUARY CHAMBERS AT MUNICH, GERMANY. 
At Munich, mortuaries with guards to give 
alarm in case of revivals, have existed since the 
opening of the cemetery. Their use was at first 
optional, and of course was quite limited. In 
1869, however, after an epidemic of cholera, a 
police regulation made it obligatory. The in- 
habitants began by protesting, finding the thought 
revolting that they were expected to give up their 
dead; but the authorities were inflexible, and little 
by little the people have become habituated to a 
custom, the many advantages of which they now 
understand and appreciate. 
The institution, moreover, works admirably. 
When a death occurs in a house at Munich, the 
family informs the police and has nothing further 
to do with the matter. Half an hour later a phy- 
sician arrives, who verifies the death and gives 
permission for the removal of the corpse. At the 
city hall there is a permanent corps of women 
attached to the municipal administration, whose 
business it is to make a final toilet of the dead. 
One of these women accompanies the physician to 
the house; she washes the body, clothes it, and 
places it on the bier, which the hearse then takes to 
the cemetery. No member of the family accom- 
panies it. According to the regulations, bodies 
must be removed in twelve hours after death, or in 
In a large hall, enclosed by great glass doors, 
through which all may look in from without, are 
ranged twenty sarcophagi in three rows. The 
tops are inclined, have zinc covers, with connections 
to a receptacle inside for liquid antiseptics. At 
the head of each sarcophagus is a standard with an 
arm reaching over the corpse, from which hangs a 
line, to which is attached a ring, forming a con- 
nection with a sounding system, so that the least 
tension on ring or line causes an alarm. Upon its 
arrival at the cemetery, the bier is uncovered and 
placed upon the sarcophagus. The body is then 
placed at an incline by means of a cushion for that 
purpose, then the whole is hidden under a mass of 
flowers, so that often nothing appears but the head 
and a large card bearing the identification number. 
The hands are crossed upon the breast, and one of 
the fingers is passed through the ring attached to 
the alarm line mentioned. All this is attended to 
by the employees of the cemetery management, 
who in general exhibit much taste in their arrange- 
ments. Many families photograph their dead as 
thus laid out, the bier being moved temporarily to 
a court specially arranged for that purpose. Let 
it be added that the ventilation is so perfect, and 
the temperature so regular, that one perceives on 
entering this hall but little odor, save that of 
flowers and wax candles. In fact the purity of the 
NEW MORTUARY BUILDINCS AT MUNICH. 
six hours in case of death from contagious disease. 
These rules are strictly observed, and often at the 
end of three or four hours, the dead are gone 
from where they died. 
Munich has ten cemeteries, nine open to all 
religions, and one reserved for Israelites. Those 
of the north, south and west are more important 
than the others. We are indebted to /’ Illustration, 
for particulars and reproductions of illustrations, in 
the cemetery of the North. 
atmosphere is very remarkable. The hall set apart 
for the remains of the rich and that for those of the 
poor, are side by side, with nothing to distinguish 
them save the masses of flowers provided in the 
former. The charges in either case are moderate, 
the total cost of a funeral, not including the fee 
for services at the church, ranging between 20 and 
120 marks (1 mark = 241^0.) The body remains 
exposed in the manner described from 48 to 80 
hours, entrance to the hall being permitted to near 
