German immigrant’s skeleton returned to Adelaide after eight decades on display

Johann David Max Dreyssig, a German immigrant who died of cancer in 1913, had his body turned into a skeleton by his physician, Professor Archibald Watson, and sold to the South Australian Museum for £10 in 1920. The skeleton was exhibited for nearly 80 years, positioned with one leg on a small chair and a bird skeleton in his hand, alongside a sign identifying it as a human specimen.

In 2026, the museum, working with Adelaide’s German community, arranged for Dreyssig’s remains to be re‑interred at West Terrace Cemetery. A small casket draped with the German flag was used, and a Lutheran pastor performed the final rites before the burial. The ceremony was followed by a wake at the Adelaide German Club attended by about 20 people who reflected on his life and the unusual post‑mortem journey.

Anna Russo, the museum’s repatriation manager, said the museum considered historical legal constraints that prevented body donation at the time of Dreyssig’s death. She noted that both the hospital and the museum would have been aware of those constraints, prompting a careful review of dignity and respect for the individual.

The burial marks the conclusion of a long‑standing display that attracted generations of museum visitors. Photographs of the skeleton show it in various poses over the years, illustrating how the exhibit evolved before the decision was made to return Dreyssig’s remains to a proper burial.