Apparently he was buried there, and was dug up multiple times over the centuries and each time got a “better” grave.
It’s a man currently known as Count Rasso, but historically was usually called Count Rath — in German “Graf Rath”, hence the name of the municipality.
Nobody knows when he was alive, but it was probably some time before the 11th century, possibly as early as the 9th century. He basically paid for the construction of the (original) church, and so later came to be venerated as a saint. His original grave is still there, but in the 15th century his remains were exhumed and placed in a (raised) tomb; then in the 17th century, when the church was rebuilt in its present form, they were put on permanent display at the altar.
The Catholic Church isn’t afraid of depictions of death, by the way, and you’ll often find either abstract representations of death or actual human remains on display, as here. It’s a “memento mori” — Latin for “remember that you die” — which serves to remind us that death is inevitable and comes to everyone, rich and poor, virtuous and evil alike. It’s not necessarily seen as macabre or gloomy: for example, the Mexican Day of the Dead festival serves the same basic purpose.
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this guy: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasso](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasso)
According to Wikipedia it’s the guy who built/funded the church and monastery
This guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasso
Its the pilgrimage site of st. Rasso which is also the one on display.
[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasso](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasso) He also has an english wiki article, but its way shorter.
Apparently he was buried there, and was dug up multiple times over the centuries and each time got a “better” grave.
It’s a man currently known as Count Rasso, but historically was usually called Count Rath — in German “Graf Rath”, hence the name of the municipality.
Nobody knows when he was alive, but it was probably some time before the 11th century, possibly as early as the 9th century. He basically paid for the construction of the (original) church, and so later came to be venerated as a saint. His original grave is still there, but in the 15th century his remains were exhumed and placed in a (raised) tomb; then in the 17th century, when the church was rebuilt in its present form, they were put on permanent display at the altar.
The Catholic Church isn’t afraid of depictions of death, by the way, and you’ll often find either abstract representations of death or actual human remains on display, as here. It’s a “memento mori” — Latin for “remember that you die” — which serves to remind us that death is inevitable and comes to everyone, rich and poor, virtuous and evil alike. It’s not necessarily seen as macabre or gloomy: for example, the Mexican Day of the Dead festival serves the same basic purpose.
*whose
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