Friedhof Hallstatt

The Friedhof Hallstatt, or Hallstatt Cemetery, clings to a narrow, jagged rock terrace directly above the village church. Space is so scarce on this mountainside that plots are rented for only ten years. Once the lease expires, the bones are carefully exhumed, bleached in the sun, and painted with floral motifs before being moved into the nearby Beinhaus. This cycle of moving the dead to make room for the living has defined the cemetery for centuries.