Display of a four-and-a-half-foot-long beard that belonged to a man who died when he tripped over it

 

Steininger’s long facial hair was cut off and preserved separately from his body, becoming a town heirloom. He’s become somewhat of a folk figure over time. There’s also a monument to him in the form of an epitaph displayed on the side of the town’s church

A local museum in the town of Braunau am Inn, located on the Austrian-German border, displays a four-and-a-half-foot-long beard that belonged to a man who died when he tripped over it

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Hans Steininger was a 16th-century burgomaster (town mayor) of Braunau am Inn. He was a popular mayor, serving multiple terms, but his incredible beard is what looms large in the town’s memory centuries after his death.