Station: [402] Schwurschädel

Schwurschädel (oath skull). As indicated by its name, such skulls were leveraged in jurisdiction in medieval times. Throughout times the skull has always been believed to hold magical potency. We can find the act of drinking from skulls and skull cups spread across Europe and the Middle East not only in prehistory, but equally in Medieval and still in modern times. In European lore we hear about talking skulls just as much as about the tradition of bury the skulls of high ranking family members closer to the living than the rest of their bodies - or to keep it even within their homes. The skull you can see in our exhibition wears the magical SATOR formula which was employed against fire and demons. First mentioned in the 1. Century in Pompeji.