the remains of a 17th century nobleman that have not decomposed over the years

In the crypt of a small rural church in Kampehl, a town in Brandenburg, one of the most studied and controversial corpses on the entire continent has been lying for more than three centuries: that of Christian Friedrich von Kahlbutz, a feudal lord of the town who died in 1702. What is so special about a nobleman? German Prussian died more than 300 years ago? That at this point he should be decomposed and not only is he not, but his body is preserved in an exceptional way, that is, mummified naturally, without anyone embalming it.

The discovery. It was the year 1794 when, while the Kampehl church was being renovated, workers opened the family crypt with the intention of moving the remains and demolishing the vault. Over there they found three coffins: two contained completely decomposed corpses and in the third was the body of Christian Friedrich von Kahlbutz, quite intact, dry and with an appearance reminiscent of leather.

The nobleman was a mummy that preserved recognizable facial remains, remains of hair and part of the clothing they used to bury him (another thing is that with the passage of time and desecrations he remained naked, which earned him that nickname). Since the coffin had no name, the initials on the shroud served to identify him.

The Kalebuz knight is extremely well preserved for his age. Via: Anagoria

The character. If the state of preservation of Christian Friedrich von Kahlbutz is already striking, his life (and the legends that have emerged around it) are not far behind. The knight Kalebuz (that is the correct spelling according to the parish book of the Köritz church) was not actually a knight by military rank (he was a cornet) but by belonging to the nobility, he participated in the Battle of Fehrbellin and he won but not before injuring his left knee, as they say. Stay with this last piece of information. As a reward, they granted him the lordship of Kampehl. There he married and had numerous legitimate children and many others illegitimate. Among other things, because among its practices was the right of stay.

In 1690, a servant named Maria Leppin accused him of the murder of her fiancé, Pastor Pickert, supposedly because the young woman had denied him the right to stay. One of the (many) good things about his status was that swearing that he had not been was enough for acquittal. And so he did in the court of Dreetz. The legend tells that in that oath he said something like: “If I am the murderer, may God ensure that my corpse never rots.” Since the original trial records no longer exist, there is no way to verify it.

The hypotheses of its natural embalming. Leaving aside the explanation of the divine promise for obvious reasons, several explanations for the mummification of the Kalebuz knight have been proposed over the years:

• Mummification by healing (yes, like sausage) is the main one: the coffin used was of exceptional quality, made of double oak and raised on four legs, which allowed dry air currents to extract moisture from the body before bacterial decomposition. This was helped by a well-ventilated crypt, the sealing of the coffin to prevent access by ghoul insects, and the condition of the corpse itself. Apparently Kahlbutz probably suffered a serious lung disease (such as tuberculosis) and was already very deteriorated, with little nutritional substrate for microorganisms. This is what is deduced from comprehensive analysis report of the team Professor Andreas Winkelmannprofessor of anatomy at the Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane.
• The effect of ingesting toxic substances. Another hypothesis that is more difficult to verify point to the chronic ingestion of toxic substances common in the pharmacy of the time (such as arsenic or mercury) that could have impregnated the tissues with compounds that inhibited decomposition, in addition to, of course, slowly poisoning him. After three centuries, these substances transform or volatilize and leave little analytical trace.
• Soil conditions. In addition, there is research that suggest that the sandy and dry composition of the crypt subsoil could have been a contributing factor in the extraction of moisture.

Mummification by healing, the main hypothesis. Anagoria

Yes, but. The passage of time, looters and legends do not make it easy to shed some light and science on the mystery of the good preservation of the Kalebuz knight. The fact that the trial records do not exist is in fact the least of the problems. The thorniest thing is identity: trusting everything to the initials of the shroud is a delicate matter. In 1983 a computed tomography made by Professor Meinhard Lüning at the Charité Hospital in Berlin found no trace of the knee injury. Neither does the 2024 investigation. Furthermore, Knight Kalebuz had two sons with the same initials, although it is not recorded that they died in Kampehl.

In 2024 they also did a DNA analysis and there they could neither confirm nor deny that tuberculosis was the cause of death. In short: it is not known what ended the life of this nobleman. The most disconcerting thing is that the CT scan showed a pencil in the middle of the chest cavity. The only explanation is a subsequent manipulation: in 1895 the doctor Rudolf Virchow performed an extraction of tissue leaving a hole in the chest, which made it possible for someone to insert the object. The pencil was identified as Faber brand and dated between 1900 and 1920, which fits with the period in which the mummy was already on display to the public.

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Cover | Wikimedia and Mmoka