APPENDIX.
No. 1.REGULATIONS FOR PUBLIC INTERMENT AT FRANCKFORT, PASSED 1829.
The transference of the cemetery to the outside of the town required the herewith enacted abolition of the ancient mode and custom of interring the dead, and the substitution of another and more suitable arrangement. For this purpose the following regulations for Sachsenhausen [the suburbs of Franckfort], as well as Franckfort, are published for general observance:—
(1.) The mixed Church and School Commission has the chief superintendence of all church, cemetery, and interment affairs.
The regulation of all matters relating to interments is conferred upon the legally-appointed Church and Cemetery Commission.
All officers employed in connection with interments are placed under the control of the said Commission, and it will be its duty to report yearly to the mixed Church and School Commission on the expenses and receipts, and the general progress of the institution.
(2.) The superintendence of the cemetery, of the sextons in their various employments, and of the house of reception, is given to an inspector, whose duties are hereafter described in the 2nd section.
(3.) For the performance of all the necessary arrangements preceding the interment, commissaries of interments are appointed to take the place of the so-called undertakers. These commissaries have to arrange everything connected with the funeral, and are responsible for the proper fulfilment of all the regulations given in their instructions.
(4.) In order to prevent the great expense which was formerly occasioned by the attendance with the dead to the grave, bearers shall be appointed who shall attend to the cemetery all funerals, without distinction of rank or condition.
To these bearers shall be given assistants, who shall be equally under the control of the interment commissaries.
(5.) A sufficient number of sextons and assistants shall be appointed to form the graves and assist at the interment.
(6.) There are four classes of funerals and interments. Every house of mourning may choose the class of funeral on paying the sum fixed for that class to the Church and Cemetery Commission.
All Christian interments, without distinction, can be conducted only according to these interment regulations. It remains open to the friends of the dead to attend the burial either in carriage or on foot; but this must be without expense to the house of mourning. The funerals of the town guards and of the soldiers of the line remain the same, but are only to cost a fixed sum.
If it be the wish of a family, the clergyman may attend the funeral, and he may perform a service either at the side of the grave, or, in case of bad weather, in the house of reception.
All interments whatsoever, except in extraordinary cases, where the police determines the time, must take place early—in summer before nine, in winter before eleven o’clock, in the morning.
The blowing of trumpets from the steeples, the attendance of women with napkins, the bearings of crosses, the attendance of the old-fashioned mourning coach, and also the use of the so-called “chariot of Heaven,” and the following of young handicraftsmen, which generally were an immense expense, are all given up. New carriages of a simpler and more respectable form, and such as are better suited to the object and to the greater distance of the cemetery from the town, shall be built.
The bodies of adults who are taken direct from the house of mourning to the grave, must be borne in the funeral carriage to the gate of the cemetery, where the bearers will convey the coffin to the grave.
The dead who have been placed in the house of reception must be borne in the same manner to the grave.
In exceptional cases, the dead may be borne to the grave by other persons; but this is only allowed when there is any particular cause of sympathy with the dead, or with the surviving family, and it must be free of all expense.
(7.) A complete and exact plan of the new cemetery shall be prepared, and all the graves shall be marked upon it.
Every place of interment must be numbered, which number must be engraved upon the plan as soon as it is taken.
The actuary of the Cemetery Commission shall keep a book, in which is entered, along with the number of the grave, the rank, age, name, and surname of the deceased.
(8.) Those who possess family vaults, family graves, or monuments, receive from the Cemetery Commission a document attesting their right, and they must also follow the regulations which are contained in it.
(9.) No grave can be opened till after the lapse of 20 years.
Hence, if a family grave-plot is full, and the oldest grave has not been closed 20 years on the occurrence of another death in the family, if it cannot be placed in the grave-plot of any other relative, it must be interred in the general interment ground, in the regular order and course.
(10.) The printed table of the cost of interment determines what sum is to be paid for funerals to the Church and Cemetery Commission.
(11.) He is chosen by the Church and Cemetery Commission, and the appointment is confirmed by the mixed Church and School Commission.
In case the latter commission should find reason to delay the ratification, the grounds of the delay are to be reported to the senate, which will then order what is requisite.
The oath of the Cemetery Inspector must be taken before the youngerHerr Bürgermeister, but his dismissal must be conducted in the same manner as his appointment.
He must be examined by the Sanitary Board, and must be found by them to be qualified. He must also be a burgher.
The Cemetery Inspector retains his situation during good behaviour, exact obedience to the interment regulations, and all other matters contained in his instructions.
(12.) The sextons and their assistants are under the control of the Cemetery Inspector.
He has to enforce the regulation that all those employed in the solemnities of funerals, or in the house of mourning, shall appear in good black clothes, and that no disorder, negligence, or defect, is permitted in the cemetery.
He has further to see that on the part of the sextons, or the gardeners,the neatness of the paths of the cemetery is restored after interments, as also that of the plantations and flower borders, as quickly as possible, and also that the mounds on the graves in the common ground are covered with green turf and kept in a pretty form.
(13.) The interments are to be notified by writing to the inspector of the cemetery by the Interment Commissary. This notification must be signed by the Church and Cemetery Commission, otherwise the inspector may not venture to order the sextons to form a grave.
One of the principal duties of the inspector is to keep a register of all the interments from these notifications, which register he must weekly lay before the Church and Cemetery Commission.
(14.) The coffins must, without any distinction, be lowered into the graves, and the inspector has to see that the necessary ropes are always in proper condition.
No less important is it for the inspector to be present at an interment, in order that by his presence nothing may be done by his subordinates, or by any other person, which should be contrary to the dignity of the interment or to the regulations.
(15.) The inspector must also inspect the family vaults, graves, and monuments, and keep a book, in which he enters statements of any repairs which may be necessary, and a notification of this is immediately to be sent to the Church and Cemetery Commission, without whose permission no alteration can be made in the graves.
(16.) The inspector has also the superintendence of the house of reception.
(17.) It is the duty of the inspector to treat all who have to apply to him with politeness and respect, and to give the required information unweariedly and with ready good will.
Under no pretext is he allowed either to demand or receive any payment, as he has a sufficient salary.
(18.) On the motion of the Church and Cemetery Commission, the Consistory names four Interment Commissaries for the Lutheran community.
For the reformed church in Franckfort two Interment Commissaries are chosen by the reformed consistory from those proposed by the Church and Cemetery Commission. Amongst those persons proposed by this commission, there must be included not only the present clergymen of the two reformed communities, but the clergyman at all times must be proposed.
The Catholic has also an Interment Commissary, chosen by the Church and School Commission from those proposed by the Church and Cemetery Commission.
The list proposed for every such appointment must include, at least, three burghers, fit to fill the situation.
The appointment is given during good behaviour, and the commissary must take an oath that he will truly and exactly follow the regulations, and that he feels it his duty to perform all these and any other particular instructions which he may receive.
(19.) To each of the three Interment Commissaries of the Lutheran community four districts are given, in which they must superintend all that has to be done from the death to the interment in their community.
The two Reformed commissaries, as well as the Catholic, have to take care of everything connected with interment in their communities.
(20.) In order that illness or any other unavoidable obstacle may not easily interfere with the function of these commissaries, two Lutheran, one Reformed, and one Catholic commissaries, shall be appointed as substitutes, and shall have the same duties and obligations as their superiors.
(21.) These commissaries must notify to each other at what hour they have an interment in charge, in order that many interments at the same time may be avoided.
(22.) The commissary is to be informed immediately as soon as a death has occurred. Thereon the commissary acquaints the family of the deceased with all that is to be done or observed with regard to the interment.
The commissary must then send to the proper officer a notification of the death, and receive the interment certificate, signed by the Church and Cemetery Commission. If the hour and day of the interment is fixed by the family of the deceased, the interment commissary informs the bearers of it the day before, so that if many funerals occurred on one day, it may be so arranged that no delays or annoyances should take place.
Timely warning is to be given to the friends of those who are placed in the house of reception, of the hour and day of interment, in order that they may, if desirous of doing so, attend the funeral.
(23.) The bearers alone, without any exception, must place the coffin in the ground.
The commissary must see that the bearers are always cleanly and respectably dressed in black when they appear at a funeral, and must be particularly careful that they conduct themselves seriously, quietly, and respectably.
He must also see that the carriage of the dead is not driven quickly either in the town or beyond it, but that it is conducted respectably at a quiet pace.
When the dead is covered, and not until then, the commissary and the bearers shall leave the cemetery in perfect silence.
For any impropriety which may, through the conduct of the bearers, arise during the interment, the commissary is responsible.
(24.) The commissary must keep a register of the deaths which occur in his district. He must close it every month with his signature, and present it in the first three days of the following month to the Church and Cemetery Commission.
(25.) If desired by the family of the deceased to communicate the event to the friends, the commissary shall do so, and for this he is to be paid according to the tax. But it is by no means necessary that he should be employed, as any other person may be employed to announce the death.
(26.) The substitute must receive half of the sum fixed by the tax-roll as belonging to the commissary, whose place he fills.
If the substitute is employed to announce the death, he receives the whole of the remuneration for that service.
(27.) The coffin bearers are chosen by the Church and School Commission, according to the sect for which they are to be employed.
The appointment of attendants on funerals and their assistants depends on good conduct.
They are bound by oath, truly and exactly, to do all that is prescribed by the interment regulations, as also all that may further be committed to them by the Church and Cemetery Commission.
(28.) For the interment of the Reformed and Lutheran sects in Franckfort, there shall be appointed thirty-six attendants of funerals and twelve assistants.
The community in Sachsenhausen has also twelve attendants and six assistants.
These attendants and their assistants are chosen from both these evangelical sects, without regard, however, to the particular number which there may be belonging to the one or the other sect.
They are summoned by writing to the performance of their duties at thefour different classes of funeral by the Interment Commissioner belonging to that community, and are subject to the strictest inspection by that commissioner.
The Catholic community has also twelve attendants and six assistants.
The whole of the attendants and assistants must be citizens or burghers of Franckfort, or from the neighbourhood, and of unquestionable reputation.
(29.) On the occasion of every death, whenever they are required, these bearers must appear in a neat and clean dress, and conduct themselves respectfully and quietly.
The dress consists of a frock coat, vest, trousers, a round hat, stockings, and shoes or boots, all of black.
In winter is added a black cloak.
The whole of the dress must be of a particular form and make.
(30.) The bearers shall neither eat nor drink in the house of mourning: they shall neither ask nor receive, under the strongest penalty, any sum for that purpose, since they and their assistants have a fixed and sufficient salary, according to the interment regulations; any breach of this regulation will be punished by dismissal.
The assistant will pay half the rate to the bearer. That assistant who has signalized himself by the exact fulfilment of his duties, shall be the first to be promoted as bearer in case of a vacancy.
Neglect of duty on the first occasion shall be punished by the Church and Cemetery Commission with suspension from the office for a certain length of time, and on a repetition of the neglect, with dismissal.
It is before this commission that the bearers have to bring their complaints, which may sometimes occur, against the Interment Commissary, under whose immediate control they are placed, and the matter is there settled.
(31.) The Church and Cemetery Commission has to name from amongst the attendants of the Lutheran and Catholic funerals those who are to be cross-bearers. These, as well as the bearers, must fulfil most exactly and conscientiously the orders of the Commissioner of Interments, and must only attend when required by him.
(32.) The Church and Cemetery Commission appoints the sextons and their assistants, who are bound by oath to fulfil the regulations and necessary arrangements of the Commission.
(33.) The Church and Cemetery Commission appoints one of the sextons as chief, who must always live in the town, and to whom the Interment Commissioner must make known the event of a death, in order that it may be notified to the Church and Cemetery Inspector, who thereupon orders the preparation of a grave.
This chief sexton has a register, in which he enters all the notifications of interments that have been sent to him, and which, when asked for, he must lay before the Church and Cemetery Commission.
No grave can be prepared, unless the warrant for it has been signed by the Church and Cemetery Commission.
Every grave must be six feet deep, three feet and a-half wide, and seven feet long for an adult.
The measurement for children is regulated by the Church and Cemetery Inspector on each separate occasion. Between the graves in the ordinary course there must be an interval of one foot.
(34.) The whole of the sextons, in which is included their assistants, are under the inspection of the Church and Cemetery Inspector, who must keep them to their duty, and who is answerable for any misdemeanor, or offence or neglect of the sextons.
(35.) The sextons must always be respectably dressed in black during the interment, and those who go to the house of mourning must always appear in neat and clean attire, and must be studious at all times, whether engaged within or without the churchyard, to preserve a modest and proper behaviour. Drunkenness, neglect of duty, or abuse of their services, will be punished by the Church and Cemetery Commission, and on repetition of the offence the offender will be dismissed. The sextons are forbidden, on pain of dismissal, from making any alteration in any family vault, or grave, or in the ordinary graves, without especial orders. They shall, on the other hand, keep all the flowers, borders, and shrubs in the neatest order, and one of the sextons must be an excellent gardener, whose office it shall be to keep the plantations and borders in good condition.
Any assistant who has been guilty of any fault which has led to the dismissal of the sexton, shall not be able to be employed again as sexton.
(36.) The salary for the making of a grave is settled by the Church and Cemetery Commissioners, on the roll, and no more than this sum can either be demanded or received, under pain of dismissal.
An assistant who has to perform the work of a sexton on account of sickness, must give the sexton half the remuneration. In case the sexton allows the assistant to do his work, or, on occasion of increased work requiring the employment of an assistant, the assistant must receive the full pay.
That assistant who has signalized himself by the exact and excellent performance of his duties, shall be the first to be promoted when a vacancy occurs.
When the qualifications are equal, the assistant of the longest standing shall be promoted, and when this is equal, the oldest shall be made sexton.
The complaints of the sextons and assistants against the Inspector or amongst themselves are to be settled by the Church and Cemetery Commission.
The Church and Cemetery Commission undertake to conduct the interments at the price fixed by them in the tax roll.
The whole rates could only be made so moderate, by making all interments to depend on the Church and Cemetery Commission, therefore the solemnities of interment can be superintended by no one except the said Commission, under the regulation of the printed orders.
The Interment Commissioner, on the occasion of a death, must call the attention of the friends to these orders. It depends entirely on the choice of the friends to which of the four classes of prices the funeral shall belong.
(39.) The Commission of Interments has to receive the payment for the interment from the friends, and must immediately pay it over to the Church and Cemetery Commission.
(40.) Besides, or in addition to the authorized payment printed in the tax roll, and determined by the Church and Cemetery Commission as the sufficient remuneration of the Inspector, Commissioner of Interments, the bearers and sextons, no one is, on the occasion of a death, either to give money or to furnish food and drink.
The practice of furnishing crape, gloves, lemons, &c., by the friends of the dead, is also given up, and the persons engaged in conducting the interment, must take all the requisites with them, without asking or receiving any compensation, under pain of instant dismissal.
(41.) Experience will best show what alteration is necessary in these regulations, and they are therefore after some years to be laid by the mixedChurch and School Commission before the Senate for revision, and further regulation.
The following, by order of the Legislative Assembly, of the 31st May, 1836, is the table of the rate of interment, which is here made known for every one’s observance and obedience.
The interments of adults are divided into four classes:—
The interment of children are also of four classes:—
For the funeral of all the city militia and officers of the line, twelve florins must be paid for the cross, the pall, and the making of the grave, inclusive of the carriage, by the friends of the dead.
The interment of a pauper will cost six florins, eight kruitzers.
The expenses of the interments of the institution for paupers are settled by the Church and Cemetery Commission, with the officers of that institution.
If the Interment Commissary be employed by the friends of the deceased, to announce the occurrence of the death, he is to receive three guilders per day.
The following are the regulations regarding the use of the house for the reception and care of the dead, which are here made known for every one’s observance.
(1.) The object of this institution is—
a.To give perfect security against the danger of premature interment.
b.To offer a respectable place for the reception of the dead, in order to remove the corpse from the confined dwellings of the survivors.
(2.) The use of the reception-house is quite voluntary, yet, in case the physician may consider it necessary for the safety of the survivors that the dead be removed, a notification to this effect must be forwarded to the younger burgermeister to obtain the necessary order.
(3.) Even, in case the house of reception is not used, the dead cannot be interred until after the lapse of three nights, without the proper certificate of the physician that the signs of decomposition have commenced. In order to prevent the indecency which has formerly occurred, of preparing too early the certificate of the death, the physician shall in future sign a preliminary announcement of the occurrence of death, for the sake of the previous arrangements necessary for an interment, but the certificate of death is only to be prepared when the corpse shows unequivocal signs of decomposition having commenced. For the dead which it is wished to place in the house of reception, the physician prepares a certificate of removal. This certificate of removal can only be given after the lapse of the different periods, of six hours; in sudden death, of twelve hours; and in other cases, twenty-four hours.
In case of the thermometer being below 10 degrees of Reaumur, (30 Fahrenheit), removal can only take place when there are unequivocal signs of death, and under the certificate of death from the physician.
(4.) The custody and treatment of the dead in the house of reception is the same for all ranks and conditions.
(5.) The superintendence of the house of reception is conferred upon the Inspector of the Church Yard. He must possess the requisite medical and surgical knowledge, and must be examined by the Sanitary Board with regard to his qualification for the office, and must be instructed according to their direction.
(6.) The guardians of the dead are under the control of the inspector, and must receive a special instruction with regard to their duties.
(7.) The dead which are placed in the house of reception must not be interred until unequivocal signs of decomposition have appeared.
The inspector determines the time of interment.
(8.) The dead, on arrival at the house of reception, are immediately placed in separate rooms, which are built for that purpose, and which are numbered, and there receive all the proper means of security.
(9.) In the house of reception, there are besides these rooms two other chambers; one is used as the animating chamber, the other, as a bath room.
The kitchen, which is also near at hand, is used to furnish hot water, or whatever may be required.
(10.) In case a body gives signs of re-animation, it must be brought immediately into the chamber used for that purpose, when all the means will be applied by the inspector, according to the instructions he has received.
(11.) This chamber, in which there is a bed, must always be carefully locked, in order that it may never be used for any other purpose. The inspector alone has possession of the key of this chamber.
(12.) There must be in this chamber every necessary provision of medicines, and of means of resuscitation and proper ventilation of the air, according to the instruction of the Sanitary Board, and all these arrangements must be kept in most perfect order by the inspector.
(13.) If any particular case occurs in the house of reception, the Sanitary Board must immediately have information of it, and the Board must from time to time examine into the state of the house.
(14.) Permission to friends and relatives to enter the rooms of the dead is not granted unconditionally, on account of considerations of health, but it depends upon the consent of the inspector. Entrance into the waiting hall, from which the rooms in which the dead are deposited range, is at all times allowed to the relatives of the dead.
(15.) A register is kept in the house of reception, in which is entered the rank and name of the dead, the age, the last disease, the day and hour of the death, the placing in the house of reception, and the time of interment, and the name of the last physician. Every registration is signed by the inspector.
(16.) No payment is made for reception and guarding of the dead in the house of reception, nor for the services of the inspector or nurses, nor for the heating of the chambers. These expenses are defrayed from the Interment Fund.
(17.) The inspector and nurses are strictly forbidden to allow any persons to visit them in the buildings of the burial ground.
(18.) When the inspector has been examined by the Sanitary Board, as to his special qualifications, and has passed, the oath is administered to him by the younger burgermeister.
(1.) The inspector must be examined as to his medical and surgical knowledge, by the Sanitary Board, and as to his treatment of suspended animation, in which he is specially instructed by the Sanitary Board, and is then sworn in by the younger burgermeister.
(2.) The inspector has to instruct his assistants, and must see that his instructions are strictly followed.
(3.) He must answer for all that is out of order in the house of reception.
(4.) As long as there are corpses in the house, the inspector must not leave his house.
(5.) He has to keep a register, in a form which is prescribed, and must punctually and clearly fill up all the heads of the form.
(6.) As soon as a corpse is brought to the house, the inspector must determine in which of the rooms it is to be placed, and order all the necessary arrangements and means of security, and the attendance of guardians, and must not leave the dead until everything has been arranged for its proper protection and care.
(7.) The Cemetery Inspector must superintend the attendants night and day.
(8.) No corpse can be interred until unequivocal signs of decomposition have appeared. On this matter the inspector has to act according to the instructions of the Sanitary Board.
(9.) Should the case arise, that the dead sets in motion the alarum, or that the nurses perceive a slight colour in the cheek, or a slight breathing, or a movement in the eye-lid, the inspector must immediately arrange that the body be brought into the fresh air of the re-animating chamber, which is properly warmed, and he will there adopt all the other means, on which he has received instructions from the Sanitary Board.
(10.) When these signs of life have appeared, the inspector must immediately give information of the circumstance by a messenger to the physician who last attended the person, in order that a notification of the same may be made to thePhysikat.
The tidings of the re-animation shall be conveyed to the house of mourning by the physician alone, and then only when there is no longer any doubt of the resuscitation.
(11.) One of the first essentials in the house is cleanliness. The Cemetery Inspector has therefore strictly to watch that everything which belongs to the house is kept most perfectly clean by the nurses.
In order to preserve the purity of the air, he must see that the arrangements for ventilation are kept in perfect order.
(12.) He must also see that the rooms are properly warmed during the cold weather.
(13.) The Cemetery Inspector is not specially paid for his services in the house of reception, but has a house free, besides the salary determined by the Cemetery Commission, and printed in the salary table.
(1.) The nurses, amongst which the sextons may be sometimes employed, are named and appointed by the Church and Cemetery Commission, on good behaviour.
(2.) They are under the superintendence of the Cemetery Inspector, and must obey his orders with the greatest exactitude and alacrity.
(3.) As soon as a corpse is brought to the house the nurses must convey it immediately into the room pointed out by the inspector, and afterwards do all that is required of them by him.
(4.) They must be instructed in all their duties by the inspector.
(5.) He, whose week it is to watch in the warder’s chamber, must never leave the chamber when there are corpses in the rooms, on pain of instant dismissal; but if anything requires him to leave the chamber, he must first summon with a bell, one of the other nurses to take his place.
(6.) The nurses must keep everything in the house in the greatest cleanliness. Any one who has frequently to be reminded of his duties through carelessness shall be dismissed from the situation.
(7.) If roughness be shown by a nurse to the dead, he must be punished with instant dismissal, and a notification of the same must be given by the Church and Cemetery Commission to the police, in order that proper inquiry and punishment be given.
(8.) In case the alarum is set in motion, or any other sign of life is perceived, the nurse must immediately inform the Inspector, and quietly and gently fulfil all his directions.
(9.) The nurses are forbidden to use tobacco in the house.
(10.) They are forbidden to receive any visits in the house, and more especially to allow any person to come during the night into the ward-chamber.
(11.) There shall be in the warder’s chamber a clock, which, by a certain mechanism, can tell when, and how long a nurse may have slept during the night. Frequent negligence of this kind will be punished by dismissal.
FRONT ELEVATION OF THE ENTRANCE, AND THE BUILDINGS ATTACHED TO THE ENTRANCE, OF THE CHRISTIAN CEMETERY AT FRANCKFORT-ON-THE-MAINE.
FRONT ELEVATION OF THE ENTRANCE, AND THE BUILDINGS ATTACHED TO THE ENTRANCE, OF THE CHRISTIAN CEMETERY AT FRANCKFORT-ON-THE-MAINE.
FRONT ELEVATION OF THE ENTRANCE, AND THE BUILDINGS ATTACHED TO THE ENTRANCE, OF THE CHRISTIAN CEMETERY AT FRANCKFORT-ON-THE-MAINE.
GROUND PLAN OF THE ENTRANCE OF THE INSTITUTION FOR THE RECEPTION AND CARE OF THE DEAD, ATTACHED TO THE CEMETERY.
GROUND PLAN OF THE ENTRANCE OF THE INSTITUTION FOR THE RECEPTION AND CARE OF THE DEAD, ATTACHED TO THE CEMETERY.
GROUND PLAN OF THE ENTRANCE OF THE INSTITUTION FOR THE RECEPTION AND CARE OF THE DEAD, ATTACHED TO THE CEMETERY.
TRANSVERSE SECTION OF THE PROBATIONARY HOUSE OF RECEPTION AND CARE OF THE DEAD PREVIOUS TO INTERMENT AT THE CEMETERY.
TRANSVERSE SECTION OF THE PROBATIONARY HOUSE OF RECEPTION AND CARE OF THE DEAD PREVIOUS TO INTERMENT AT THE CEMETERY.
TRANSVERSE SECTION OF THE PROBATIONARY HOUSE OF RECEPTION AND CARE OF THE DEAD PREVIOUS TO INTERMENT AT THE CEMETERY.
LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF THE PROBATIONARY HOUSE OF RECEPTION AND CARE OF THE DEAD PREVIOUS TO INTERMENT AT THE CEMETERY.
LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF THE PROBATIONARY HOUSE OF RECEPTION AND CARE OF THE DEAD PREVIOUS TO INTERMENT AT THE CEMETERY.
LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF THE PROBATIONARY HOUSE OF RECEPTION AND CARE OF THE DEAD PREVIOUS TO INTERMENT AT THE CEMETERY.
No. 2.REGULATIONS FOR THE EXAMINATION AND CARE OF THE DEAD, AND FOR RELIEVING THE APPREHENSIONS OF PREMATURE INTERMENTS, PROVIDED AT MUNICH.
Whereas it is of importance to all men to be perfectly assured that the beings who were dear to them in life are not torn from them so long as any, the remotest, hope exists of preserving them; so is death less dreadful in its shape when one is convinced of its actual occurrence, and no longer a danger exists of being buried alive.
In order to afford this satisfaction to mankind, and to preclude the possibility of any one being considered as dead who is not actually so; that the spread of infectious disorders be avoided as much as possible; that the quackeries so highly injurious to health may be suppressed; that murders committed by secret violence may be discovered, and the perpetrators delivered over to the hands of justice, is the imperative duty of every wise government; and in order to accomplish these objects, every one of which is of infinite importance, recourse must be had to the Safety Police as the most efficient means, by a strict medical examination into the deaths occurring, and a conformable view of the body.
In consideration of which, the orders already existing on this subject will undergo a strict examination, and, with the august consent of the government of the Isar-Circle, the following general regulations have been fixed upon:—
1. An examination of all dead bodies, at two different times, and this without exception to rank, is henceforth to take place in the metropolitan city of Munich, and the suburbs belonging thereto.
2. The first examination is to be held immediately after death has taken place, and the second shortly before the interment.
3. At the public hospitals, both examinations are intrusted to the acting physician, who has however strictly to observe those regulations relating to the certificates for the examination of the dead.
4. The first examination is to take place at the very spot where death has taken place, or where any dead body may be discovered, by the sworn surgeon of the district: the second examination, however, by the surgeon appointed by and belonging to the Police Establishment.
5. The city of Munich, with the suburbs, are to be divided into Eight Districts; for each of these districts a separate surgeon is hereby appointed, viz.:—
[Here follow the eight districts, with the names and residences of the Surgeons appointed for each district.]
6. As soon as a death takes place, immediate notice must be given by the Soul-nuns, Midwife, &c., &c., or by any such person charged with the arrangements for the burial. This said notice must state the street, the number of the house, and of the floor where the dead body is lying; whereupon the said surgeon has immediately to go there, and conduct the investigation according to his instructions.
7. Previous to this, and before the first examination has taken place, it is neither permitted to undress nor to clean the dead body: nor is the body allowed (in cases of natural death) to be carried out of that room where death has taken place, or to be removed from the spot; and it is not even permitted to remove the cushions from under the head of the dead body. Every violation of this decree will be punished with a fine of from 5 to 15 florins, or with imprisonment from one to three days.
8. Those regulations issued by the examining surgeon respecting the treatment of the dead body, or which relate to the clothes and other objects of the deceased, must be strictly obeyed.
9. After the examining surgeon has convinced himself that every hope of re-animation has disappeared, he fills up the certificate of examination accordingto his instructions; but be it observed at the same time, that if a medical man has attended the deceased, such is bound to enter in the said certificate the description of the disease, and to certify it by his signature.
10. If the dead body remains in the dwelling-house until the burial takes place, the second examination by the surgeon from the Police must be held there; and for this reason the certificate must be forwarded into his hands as soon as possible.
11. But if the dead body after the first examination has been removed to the house for the reception of the dead, in order to remain there, this said certificate should previously, or at the delivery, be taken to the Inspector of his Institution, in order that no obstacle may arise to its reception.
12. The utmost cleanliness and greatest order is to prevail in this said house for the reception of the dead, where the dead bodies removed there are to be placed under a perpetual and proper watch; and the Police Surgeon is bound to call at the Institution twice every day, namely, in the morning and in the evening, to institute a very minute examination of the dead bodies there; and in case of any signs of re-animation, to render speedy and the most serviceable assistance.
13. If the medical man who conducts the second examination perceives those signs in a corpse which do not leave any doubt whatsoever that a death has taken place, he then enters the verification in the certificate, which thereupon is taken to the Directory of Police, who then grant the permission for the interment.
14. Without such a legal certificate permitting it, no body is allowed to be buried; and that Priest or Clergyman who will assist at any burial without having seen this certificate forfeits a sum from 15 to 30 florins.
15. Proper arrangements have been made that the Printed Forms for the decreed Certificates may always be obtained at the Directory of Police, and will be delivered gratis to the officiating medical men of the Public Hospitals, as well as to the Examining Surgeons; a receipt however must be given for them.
16. All those persons nominated for the execution of these measures, as the Soul-nuns, Midwives, attendants at the house for the reception of the dead; the Inspector of such House, the Examining Surgeons, the Surgeons of the Police, &c., &c., will be supplied with the printed regulations, as well as the most minute instructions, for which purpose they will be sworn, and be ever subject to a rigorous inspection.