Regretting the act of stealing when he was young, the German tourist returned the skull to St. Stephen in Vienna after 60 years.
On October 31, many foreign newspapers reported that a skull was sent to St. Stephen in Vienna, but did not specify the time. Mr. Franz Zehetner, who is in charge of archiving church records, received the skull wrapped in a cardboard box along with a confession letter.
The sender is a male tourist living in Northern Germany. About 60 years ago, he stole this skull while visiting the catacombs under the church but now regrets it and wants to return it. In the letter, he emphasized that he wanted to “resolve his mistakes” as he entered the last years of his life.
The skull was wrapped in a cardboard box sent to the church. Image: BBC
“This is not what you expect,” Mr. Franz Zehetner said and said he was startled when he saw the skull. He shared that the male tourist’s actions were “really touching”. According to him, the skull has been well preserved for many years. Although stealing was illegal, this man chose to return it instead of throwing it away.
The church has not yet determined who the skull belongs to but has reburied it.
According to BBC, the crypt under St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna contains the remains of about 11,000 people, buried mainly in about 40 years of the 18th century. During this period, cemeteries around the cathedral were closed due to epidemics and hygiene regulations. This area includes mass burials, noble family tombs and the remains of plague victims, stacked in sealed compartments.
Catacombs below the church. Image: Discover – Culture
It is not uncommon for tourists to return stolen items after many years, the main reason comes from feelings of guilt or fear of bad luck or “getting cursed”. In October, Timanfaya National Park in Spain also received a volcanic rock back from a tourist after this person “repeatedly had bad luck”.
Pompeii Archaeological Park (Italy) each year receives about 100 packages from visitors who return ceramic pieces and mosaic pieces with letters of apology. A typical case is Nicole, a Canadian tourist, who returned the artifact in 2020. She said that after 15 years (since taking the item), she had breast cancer twice and went bankrupt.