One night with Venus, a lifetime with mercury: Analyses of heavy metals in Franz Schubert’s hair are consistent with syphilis treatment

TL;DR

Analysis of Franz Schubert’s hair shows high mercury levels, suggesting he received syphilis treatment months before his death.

Contribution

Heavy metal analysis of Schubert’s hair provides new evidence supporting historical claims of syphilis treatment.

Findings

Mercury and lead concentrations in Schubert’s hair were significantly elevated.

Metal concentration patterns across samples suggest they originated from the same individual.

Mercury levels decreased closer to the time of death, consistent with syphilis treatment.

Abstract

Samples from three strands of Franz Schubert’s hair, which are very likely to be authentic due to their well-documented origin and the chain of custody that is still valid today, were analyzed in terms of molecular biology and heavy metal content. The two hair samples presumably taken from the deceased’s head showed matching molecular biological parameters, while the sample taken 35 years after his burial did not contain any usable DNA. Heavy metal analyses along the hair samples using LA-ICP-MS (laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) with a temporal resolution of 4–5 h revealed significantly increased mercury and lead concentrations in all samples with a decreasing tendency towards the time of death. Taking the different storage conditions into account, the patterns of metal concentrations in the samples match well, suggesting that all three samples came from the same individual. The results of our research support the suggestion, often made in the literature, that Franz Schubert underwent cutaneous treatment with mercury for syphilitic illness many months before his death.

The online version of this article (10.1007/s00508-025-02524-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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