Bloggin’ the old noggin…
This is a macabre story. Friedrich Schiller was a famous German writer. He was born in 1759 (not 1788 as we first posted) while his father was off at the Seven Years War. Back then, they named wars like that so both sides knew how long they had to fight.
Schiller wrote lots of great stuff and was associated with “Sturm und Drang.” That may be a German law firm, but I didn’t look it up. He died in 1805 and was buried in a mass grave. A few years later officials dug up the grave, figured the biggest skull was Schiller’s, and kept it.
A century passed. Researchers dug up another skull and claimed IT was Schiller’s. A debate ensued as scholars, um, jawboned. Imagine two yellowed skulls with flappy jaws saying, “I’M FRIEDRICH!” “NO! I AM!”
Now, there’s DNA. As any civilized people would do, they’ve dug up the remains of Schiller’s son, and grandson, for comparisons. Oh, and did I mention they also dug up the WIFE of the GRANDSON? No kidding. Someone please call Sturm und Drang and put a stop to this!
Actors rehearsing the Friedrich Schiller drama “William Tell” in a 2004 file photo. REUTERS/ Marcus Gyger
























































