St. Sebastian Church and Cemetery

St. Sebastian Church

St. Sebastian Church is located in the "Old Town" of Salzburg, Austria. This church was built between 1505 and 1512 in the Gothic and Baroque style. However, in 1818 it was partially destroyed by a fire and had to be rebuilt. Today it is styled in the Baroque. 

While St. Sebastian is crucial to the Catholic faith and there are many depictions of him in paintings and sculptures, he isn't the primary focus of this post. Behind this church is the Cemetery of St. Sebastian. The people of Salzburg have a fascination with death, and this cemetery vividly depicts morbid images.

These are just a few of the examples of death in this cemetery. On the far left is a picture of a winged skull. In the center is a skull with a snake emerging through the eye socket. Lastly, on the far right is a picture of a body with an hourglass in the right hand. While the artists are unknown, these are symbols of death: morality of humans and reality of death.

Interior of Gabrielskapelle

In addition to the symbols of death through the use of skulls, crossbones, snakes, and hourglasses, there is a Mausoleum for Wolf Dietrich located on this property. Wolf Dietrich was born in 1559 in Austria. He is the individual who made Salzburg wealthy. During the 1590s, he issued a mining ordinance which encouraged the process of "wet mining," which is the process of salt in the rock being dissolved through water. Because of this breakthrough, the entire city of Salzburg flourished to become what it is today. He died in 1617 and was entombed here.

• http://www.salzburg.info/en/sights/churches_cemeteries/sebastianskirche_friedhof
• http://www.salzwelten.at/en/hallein/saltmine/history/