Blondes have more fun?

[leo]

It has been some time since I read Carisella's book. I was unconvinced by his assertions and conclusions. What did you guys think?

[EdStevens]

The collecting of locks of hair from loved ones, before as well as after death, was a very common practice during the 19th and early 20th century. Many people carried lockets designed expressly for this purpose--they commonly show up on the original Antiques Road Show for instance. I can believe that this could in fact be MvR's hair; the problem is that the seller seems to have sliced it up into single pieces of one hair about 2mm long by the look of the picture, in order to squeeze every dollar out of the public.

I mean, is that going to be enough DNA to clone him?

If it really is MvR's hair, can we clone him and ask about the true colours of WW1 Hun kites?

Hmm. A new topic for AustralianAce. "Who would you clone and bring back to life?"
You read it here first, folks.

[Richard_Schrader]

Dan San;
The story I heard about "The Baron's Bones" was that when the body was moved from it's first grave, only the skull was taken. The skull was then interned in a German Military cemetery. In 1925 the skull made it's way back to Germany for a state funeral. Before the fall of the Berlin wall, the skull make it's way Westward again and buried in a family plot.
Sometime before this last interment Patsy Carsiella went digging in the Baron's first grave site. He then dug up several if not all of Manfred's remaining bones! What he did with those I have wondered for along time.
If you can add or correct this tale of bones it would finally put my mind at ease. I always hoped that Patsy gave the bones to the Richthofen family.

Richard

[Amy]

Hi Richard:

Here's what I've been able to piece together regarding Carisella's "story":

MvR was initially buried at a Bertangles cemetery. His remains then were reinterred at a cemetery at Fricourt. Then, in 1925 (I believe), they were again reinterred at the Invalidenfriedhof in Berlin.

Now, soon after MvR's remains were vacated from the Bertangles cemetery plot, someone else was apparently buried in the spot.

Then flash forward 40-50 years. A man who was 4-years-old at the time MvR's remains were dug up at Bertangles to be re-buried at Fricourt told Carisella that he only saw the people remove a skull from the grave. Carisella says he's digging where MvR was originally buried to locate, if I remember correctly, an ornament from MvR's original casket. When Carisella digs into the old grave, he says he found some bones, but NO skull. This supposedly substantiates what the then 4-year-old boy saw years before. Carisella says he was in shock at finding "MvR's bones" still there, gathered the bones up, and took them to the German Embassay(?) in Paris.

Some people believe that Carisella didn't actually dig up Manfred's bones but rather someone else's bones who was buried in the plot after Manfred.

I dunno, it's all a weird story all around.

[DJ]

Kudos to Neville!!!