In Metnitz, a small town in Carinthia, you can find a Danse Macabre, a painting of Death dancing with people from all kinds of classes – from the pope through the king to knights, cooks, mothers and children. Those Danse Macabres can be found all around Europe.

The one in Metnitz can be found on the outside of the church’s ossuary and is from the 15th century. The original painting was removed from the ossuary and restored and can be found in the Metnitzer Totentanzmuseum. The paintings have also been copied back onto the outside of the ossuary.

I liked the idea of a Danse Macabre and the one in Metnitz is particularly nice because it also includes text that is pretty cool. And the museum itself is so eccentric that it is worth a visit on its own.

I was visiting L. in Carinthia when I saw a sign for this museum and I was just really stumped: What the hell is a “Death Dance Museum” anyway. L. explained and we decided to see if it was open while I was there and if so, to go there for a visit. And we were in luck – they were open Sunday morning between 10 and 12. We arrived there shortly before ten and first looked at the outside of the ossuary and the copies of the paintings – accompanied by the church choir: mass was in full pentecoast mode next door.

Shortly after 10am, we headed over to the actual museum. Unfortunately, nobody was there. We rang the bell and got no reply. But with mass still in full swing, we just figured that whoever ran the museum was still in there, praising the lord. So we waited until mass was out (at around 10.30) and then this old lady came over who looked like a witch from a fairy tale: rather small, but round, a little lopsided, hairy moles, thick, thick glasses. But at the same time she also had this air of complete good-naturedness.

This woman gave us our introduction into the history of Danse Macabres in Europe and of that particular painting and its restoration process and explained the symbolism of it (“yes, that really is Death leading the pope into hell through a dragon’s mouth. It was quite revolutionary at the time to paint something like that.”). And then she showed us a short video of the play that Metnitz puts on every four years where they enact the stories of Death coming to get everyone.

Then we looked at the (very small) exhibit, mostly consisting of comparisons with other Danse Macabre paintings and of an aquarell copy of the painting from the 19th century (which was more detailed than what remained of it when it was restored). The paintings themselves were also interesting – especially the way Death was shown – with various instruments and in various colors.

In short, it was just a really fun way to pass an hour.

Summarising: It might not be worth it to drive there, but if you’re in the area, I wouldn’t miss it.