The proof can be collected into two groups:
(1) The disclosures which the official Registrars, and reports of the family, and of the homoeopaths, have shown to coincide with the marks on the tomb and in the coffin.
(2) The opening of Hahnemann’s coffin where his features must sill be recognisable.
Hahnemann is buried in the tomb of the Lethiere’s; Hahnemann’s is the first body found on opening the vault. Here we have the first proof.
On the one hand the Cemetery Registers and the Parish Register; on the otherhand the Reports from Samuel Hahnemann’s grandson, Dr. Suss-Hahnemann who is now here, and by Mrs. von Boenninghausen, adopted daughter of the widow Madame Melanie Hahnemann, nee d’Hervilly, all of whom were living in Hahnemann’s time or have written about his wife, testify that Christian Samuel Hahnemann, who died at Paris in the year 1843, was buried in the vault of the Lethiere’s which was purchased in perpetuity and is marked with the number 324 of the year 1832, and the number 414 of the year 1843.
The tomb on the left-hand side of it is the burial place of the Hahnemann’s marked with the number 231 of the year 1847. This tomb only contained the body of the widow, Madame Hahnemann nee Melanie d’Hervilly, who died in 1878. Some homoeopaths have erroneously asserted, that Hahnemann’s body had been laid in this tomb. Gentlemen! It is now open before you, it only contains one coffin, the marks of which coincide with the Parish-Register of Madame Hahnemann, nee d’Hervilly. The Lethiere vault in which Hahnemann’s body rests has been reproduced in the Journal of Dr. Schwabe, “Homoeopathische Kalender 1892,” and recently reproduced in the “Hahnemannian monthly” but you can still see, gentlemen, that these are the same iron railings, the same shape of the tombstone as shown in the drawing which i put before you. Ultimately you see an obvious proof in the corner of the tombstone, the inscription” C.P. 324″ (concession perpetuelle 324, French designation for permanent grave — R.H.)
We also knew from the Cemetery Authorities and from the reports of the family, and of the homoeopathic physicians that Hahnemann’s coffin was the last that had been laid in it. Gohier’s body was the first, the cemetery no longer possesses the date of his death:the body of Lethiere, who died in 1832, is in the middle, and finally the last, that is the first under the flat stone is that of Hahnemann, who was buried in 1843.
The identification number of Hahnemann’s Coffin is in the Registers of the Cemetery of Montmartre, no. 1,252, I. District, 1843.
Now, Gentlemen, to-day you have come to ascertain the authenticity of these reports.
On the first lead coffin before us, which is separated from the others by a layer of cement, immediately under the flat stone of the Lethiere vault, we read the following inscription which has not been injured by time:
“N. 1,252, Ier, arrondissement 1843.”
Further, above we see on the coffin a lead seal; “Patent of Invention, embalming Gannal.”
Now we know that Hahnemann’s body had been embalmed by one of the first specialists of his time. The firm Gannal is still in existence in the Seine Str. No. 6. I have had an opportunity of seeing Dr. Gannal, the son and successor, who helped his father in the embalming of Hahnemann’s body, and still remembers it. According to his statement Hahnemann was embalmed with aluminium sulphate(sulfate d’alumine, System Gannal), although Dr. Suss Hahnemann, who was also a witness, asserts that the chemical substance used was arsenic. In the ledgers if the Gannal firm we can still find these words: “July 3rd, 1843. Embalming of Dr. Hahnemann, 2,000 francs.” To-day Dr. Gannal is among those present and has laid stress on the value of being present at the disinterment.
I therefore put together in sequence the proofs for the authenticity of Samuel Hahnemann’s body;
(1) Hahnemann is buried in the Lethiere hereditary vault and not in Hahnemann’s tomb, according to the Cemetery Registers and the Parish-Register; and also according to a report of an eye- witness, Dr. Suss-Hahnemann, the grandson of Hahnemann, and in accordance with an attested writing of Mrs. von Boenninghausen, adopted daughter of the widow Madame Hahnemann, and according to all those who have described Hahnemann’s life in their writings.
(2).Hahnemann’s coffin in the Lethiere hereditary vault is actually the one marked “No. 1,252, ier, arrondissement, 1843.” For(I) the No. 1,252 is very distinct on the coffin, and is the same as the one in the Cemetery Register. (2) The Rue de Milan where Hahnemann died which now belong to the IXth district, belonged in 1843, to District I of Paris. (3). Only Hahnemann died in 1843 of the people buried in Lethiere’s tomb, where tow other dead are resting who were buried, one in 1832, and the other before that date.
(3).The lead seal with the mark of the embalming by Gannal is a further proof. And ultimately, Gentlemen, in order to destroy all doubts, I have received the permission from the Prefecture, to open the lead coffin; we shall be present at a touching spectacle which will stand out in our lives; we shall contemplate the remains of the one who is daily our leader and master.– The features of the celebrated Hahnemann which have slept for fifty- five years will once more, and for the last time, see the light.
OPENING OF THE COFFIN.
When the successive speeches and addresses were finished the workmen commenced to lift up the coffin.
In the presence of the Police Commissioner, the workmen lifted the coffin out of the vault; it was placed upon planks which covered the hole made when Madame Hahnemann was disinterred.
Dr. Gannal, who supervised the work, remarked that Hahnemann’s lead coffin was only screwed down and not soldered, and expressed to the physicians, the fear that the body might not have been well preserved. The workmen removed the screws ad levered those which time had injured. The leaden covered begins to open a little and those present see Hahnemann’s feet wrapped in linen, resorting against the side of the coffin; they appear well preserved, but as more screws are forced out and the cover opens wider it is seen that there is water in the coffin, and the fear that the body might not be preserved increases.
At last the lid is completely removed and Hahnemann’s body wrapped in silken bandages becomes visible. The structure of the body as shown under the bandages used in the embalming appears well preserved. The corpse is slightly shrunken, but what astonishes particularly those present is the smallness of Hahnemann’s stature. We ask those who knew Hahnemann and we receive the answer that the Founder of Homoeopathy was indeed a small man.
The body is lying in water; this fluid is not produced by the embalming, but by water which has filtered in from outside. The bottom of Montmartre Cemetery, as experts state, is constantly permeated with water which flows along over the clay soil foundation. But if the coffin, in 1843, had been soldered instead of screwed, the water would not have penetrated. The presence of water in the coffin naturally produced a hopeless decomposition of the body. The embalmer had taken special care to cover the head and hands, not only with silk bandages, but also with pieces of cotton-wool saturated with essences; after half a century these pieces of cotton-wool looked like large sponges covering Hahnemann’s head and the hands which were crossed on the body.
Dr. Gannal removes the remains of wool and silk bandages from the hands and face which are in a better state of preservation than the other part. He looks for Hahnemann’s head but only finds a soft mass of decomposed tissue and bones. He looks for the enamelled eyes which had been placed in the orbits. Hahnemann’s body was completed decomposed; Dr. Gannal pulls out a long plait of female hair which was wound round the neck; it was probably Madame Hahnemann’s hair.
Although it was impossible to recognise Hahnemann’s features Dr. Gannal fortunately was able to withdraw from the coffin a number of objects which guaranteed the authenticity of the body.
SUPPLEMENT 248
HAHNEMANN’S BUST
C. Steinhauser apologised in Berlin on January 21st, 1834 (in the studio of Professor Rauch) for not having been able to finish the bust in time for Christmas: Under other circumstances the matter would perhaps have happened a month previously, but Professor Tieck (brother of the poet L. Tieck and a well-known sculptor –R.H.) a true anti- homoeopath, sought every opportunity to make the thing ridiculous to me or to turn me against it. Therefore, i withdrew the bust from his observation and influence in as short a space of time as possible.
Far from wishing to praise my work. I yet may flatter myself that I have earned the thanks of your personal friends here, as they assure me that the cheerfulness and freshness which are characteristics of you can be recognised in it. I know only too well how far I adhered to the truth; when my hands control my imagination I shall more nearly approach the goal. This time my only consolation is the marble reproduction about which Dr. Meirhoff is so concerned, because I am working more for the expression than for the life likeness.
Richard Haehl was also an editor and publisher of the homeopathic journal Allgemcine, and other homeopathic publications.
Haehl was responsible for saving many of the valuable artifacts of Samuel Hahnemann and retrieving the 6th edition of the Organon and publishing it in 1921.
Richard Haehl was the author of - Life and Work of Samuel Hahnemann