There was a cemetery on the site of the Salzburg University Hospital for almost 200 years. This is now calling archaeologists into action.
They dig carefully, use fine brushes and pack bone by bone in newspaper. Before the excavators arrive at the Salzburg State Hospital site, the archaeologists are at work. The experts are meticulously examining the construction site for the new Internal Medicine III building. Because there was a hospital cemetery on the site until 1901. An estimated 500 skeletons are said to be underground here, and 150 have already been excavated since the summer. “We investigate every discovery. The whole thing is very interesting from a medical perspective,” says Peter Höglinger from the Federal Monuments Office. How were people cared for back then? How did they eat? Do you have any injuries or deficiencies? The experts hope to find answers to all of these questions. “The skeletons will then be buried with dignity, probably in the municipal cemetery,” says Paul Sungler, managing director of the state clinics (SALK). The cemetery was created in 1695. At first it was purely a hospital cemetery. From 1792 onwards, deceased people from Mülln, Riedenburg and Maxglan also found their final resting place here. “We will probably only be able to identify very few people,” says Höglinger. During the excavations, the scientists also discovered the foundations of former cemetery buildings, parts of the wall and a tunnel. The new Internal Medicine III building itself is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2026. An urgently needed undertaking. Sungler: “The clinic is divided into a total of seven locations in five buildings – and some of these buildings have reached the end of their useful life.”
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