Alfred Riepertinger: Fascinating insight into the realm of the dead
Contact fears with death? "There never was," says Alfred Riepertinger (* 1955) in an interview with the news agency spot on news. For over forty years he has been the chief preparator at the Pathological Institute of the Schwabing Hospital. In his new book "Mumien", which will be published by Heyne Verlag on 17 September, he gives fascinating insights into the realm of the eternally living and his professional life, which is probably anything but ordinary for most people.
Of guests and vultures
Even as a child, Riepertinger was allowed to accompany his father to the cemetery and to the morgue. Whether that did not deter him? No, says the mummy connoisseur, "because the topic has always interested me and I found it very exciting". By now, about 30,000 guests, as Riepertinger calls the dead in his mortuary, lay before him on the dissecting table. He saw some of them lying in graves or even in tombs.
Given the huge number of his guests Riepertinger is one thing to emphasize: No matter how many bodies he has already seen, "the deceased will always remain individuals".
Fascination taxidermist
Riepertinger describes his profession as "incredibly multi-layered". To look after a corpse handsomely does not make the work of a taxidermy far from it. "You need knowledge of anatomy, craftsmanship, funeral and legal skills, as well as rhetorical fluency in lecturing and dealing with relatives of the deceased," says Riepertinger, describing his varied everyday life. "No day is like the other."
Caution is advised
To shudder, a corpse had never brought the chief preparer. He is simply too fascinated by the theme of death. Nevertheless, he admits that many an autopsy must be connected with caution. "Corpses can transmit diseases," explains Riepertinger in an interview. However, since he "wears protective clothing according to the degree of endangerment", his work does not pose any risk to his own health.
But why is it that many people make death a taboo topic? According to Riepertinger, it is only the "fear of uncertainty and finality" that causes many to shiver at the thought of their own mortality.
