Waiting Mortuaries
The initial definition of the word morgue comes from the French word morguer, or, “to stare”. By the late 1800s, the Parisian morgues became public spectacles, analogous to seeing a play at the theater. People would flock by the thousands just to see the unidentified bodies laying on slabs behind large glass windows while those waiting to catch a glimpse could purchase an array of goodies such as toys and pastries from vendors capitalizing on the people’s morbid and voyeuristic obsession. Eventually, the macabre spectacle of viewing dead bodies became taboo and morgues would become a place of quiet sanctuary for the dead and mourning observation for their loved ones.
Late 19th century Germany was possibly the best place for one to perish. The waiting mortuary was popularized in the 1880s. Most were located in Munich, known as the Munich Leichenhaus. These establishments allowed corpses to lie on zinc trays until putrefaction, the process of decomposition, began. The zinc trays were filled with an antiseptic to reduce the chance of infection or delay putrefaction and the areas around the trays were decorated with fragrant flowers to disguise the inevitable smell of death. This is likely where the custom of decorative flowers at funeral services originated. Often, the mortuaries were divided by class; the richest families had their own section.
Much like the system used for safety coffins, morgues were staffed 24 hours a day by attentive caretakers. The corpses were rigged to skillfully crafted bell systems that would alert the staff of a corpse’s reawakening. The bloating process of putrefaction caused many false alarms. Although Franz Hartmann, a researcher who collected more than 700 claims of live burial, insisted premature declaration of death was a common problem, most medical professionals maintained their skepticism of it ever happening.
Dr. Brouardel, the author of “Death and Sudden Death” written in 1902, was especially skeptical of the claim that a third of people were buried alive after being falsely announced as dead. It is not known if the waiting mortuary actually prevented premature burials. One source states that between 1822 and 1845, 465,000 people were taken to waiting mortuaries and none were found to still be living. However ineffective they may have been at preventing live burials, waiting mortuaries were still one of the most popular death testing methods.