Max Dreyssig buried 113 years after his 1913 death
Johann David Max Dreyssig was a German war hero. He was buried in Adelaide after nearly 80 years on display at the South Australian Museum.
On Saturday, Max Dreyssig was finally buried in Adelaide, 113 years after his death in 1913. For almost 80 years, his skeleton hung in the South Australian Museum.
It was posed with one leg on a small chair, a bird skeleton on his outstretched hand, and labelled "Human: Homo sapiens" among animal remains. Dreyssig died of cancer aged 62.
He gave his body to his eccentric doctor, Prof Archibald Watson. Watson had him reduced to a skeleton and sold it to the museum for £10 in 1920.
Watson was a University of Adelaide anatomy professor who had fled bail on murder charges. A Lutheran pastor read the last rites.
Dreyssig was lowered into his grave at West Terrace cemetery, draped in the German flag. About 20 people gathered at Adelaide's German Club for a wake.
Dreyssig earned the Iron Cross for bravery in the Franco-Prussian war. He moved to Australia in 1885.
Why it mattersThis burial acknowledges a fundamental breach: treating a human being as a specimen rather than a person. It forces museums to face how they have treated remains, especially from powerless or left out communities.
AustraliaThe South Australian Museum has acknowledged its practices fell short of ethical standards. This case highlights how Australian institutions have handled human remains and the responsibility they now face to act with dignity.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 18 h ago
