The Zizenhausen Dance of Death

The history of the Zizenhausener figures

The motif of the Dance of Death, which was popular in Europe from the 15th century onwards and was initially probably treated primarily in literature, later served as a model for the visual arts. The motif of dance was represented either by long dance chains or by jumps and musical instruments. While at first dead people – marked as so called "Hautskelette" (skin skeletons) – invited the individual members of the profession to dance, it was later the personified death itself – as a real skeleton – that surprised the members of the profession in their everyday work. The dance with the dead became an encounter with death. Dances of death – no matter what form it takes – make it clear that in the face of death all people are equal and that spiritual or worldly power and wealth are of no use.
One of the most famous Totentänze was the so-called Basler Totentanz, a two-metre high mural painting on the cemetery wall of the preacher's monastery in Basel, created around 1440. Over a length of about 60 metres, it presented 39 pairs of dances of death and the three leitmotifs "Adam and Eve", the "preacher scene" and the "charnel house". Unfortunately, art lovers were only able to save a few fragments of the Basel Dance of Death, which was destroyed in 1805; 19 of these are now in the Historical Museum of the City of Basel.
The Zizenhausen figures can be regarded as evidence of the lasting effect of the Basel Dance of Death and the great interest in it, even after its destruction. The figures are named after the district of Stockach in Baden-Württemberg, where Anton Sohn lived since 1799 and produced and sold the popular clay figurines. Secular motifs such as groups in traditional costume or children's scenes were particularly popular with tourists and the local population. After the famous Basel Dance of Death was destroyed in 1805, Sohn took on the production of small replicas. From 1823 on, 42 groups of figures could be purchased. The front side of the pairs of figures was formed into a round shape, while the back side remained unprocessed. After firing in a ceramic kiln, they were painted by hand with oil paint –usually over a chalk primer – and details were even refined with gold leaf. On the pedestal is a strip of text written or printed with the Dance of Death verses. These texts have been translated into several languages – probably because of the increasing tourism.

The figures from the Totentanz series were produced by the Sohn family for over 150 years. Therefore it is also possible that figures of different series sometimes differ strongly from each other.