<n: If Ulysses S. Grant is buried in Grant’s Tomb, who is buried in Friedrich Schiller’s tomb? Answer: Not Friedrich Schiller. Two years of DNA research has determined that none of the remains billed as those of the poet and playwright were actually his, The Associated Press reported, citing MDR television. In 1826, 21 years after Schiller died in Weimar, Germany, and was buried in a common grave in Jacobs Cemetery, it was decided that he needed a new resting place, Fürstengruft Cemetery. The mayor, Carl Leberecht Schwabe, a Schiller fan, decided that of the 23 skulls exhumed from the common grave, the biggest must have been Schiller’s. A skeleton believed to be a match was put together with the skull, and everything was buried anew in 1827, to be joined in 1832 by Schiller’s friend Goethe, who was interred alongside him, above. About 60,000 people visit the site annually. Researchers later unearthed two other skulls said to be Schiller’s. But none of them were supported by DNA from the remains of two Schiller sisters and two sons. Hellmut Seemann, president of the Foundation of Weimar Classics, which oversees the Schiller archives and exhibitions, said he believed the remains were probably still in the Jacobs Cemetery.
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Friedrich Schiller in the News: New York Times asks “Where’s Schiller?”
May 9, 2008
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