The Corpse House of Lititz: Waiting Room for the Afterlife

Just off Main Street, tucked beside the Lititz Moravian Church along Church Avenue, stands a small limestone building with shuttered windows, an arched ceiling, and a name that stops most visitors in their tracks: the Leichen Kappelchen—the “Corpse House.” Built in 1786 by the Moravian congregation, this sturdy structure served a solemn but essential purpose: it was the temporary resting place for members of the church before burial.

In the late 18th and 19th centuries, burial wasn’t always immediate. In cold Pennsylvania winters, the ground could be frozen solid for weeks, making grave digging all but impossible. Since the Moravians do not place the deceased in the sanctuary, the Corpse House provided a sheltered, respectful place to keep the deceased until the weather or schedule allowed for burial. Moravian tradition also required that burials be delayed for at least three days, partly out of religious reverence and partly to ensure there was no mistaken diagnosis of death.

Inside, there were funeral adult and child-sized biers, stands used to support a coffin or casket during a funeral service or viewing. Windows near the ceiling could be opened to allow fresh air to circulate, a simple but important feature before the era of refrigeration. In keeping with Moravian customs, even in death, men and women were separated—“Brothers’ Side” and “Sisters’ Side” in both the sanctuary and the burial fields of God’s Acre.

The Corpse House saw regular use until 1935, after which viewings moved to the nearby Eschbach Parlor. However, if you are a member of the church, you can request to be placed there, as several have chosen to do in recent decades.

Not every moment in the Corpse House’s history was entirely solemn. In the late 1700s, gravedigger Claus Collyn buried a man named Thomas Utley in God’s Acre. As Collyn filled in the grave, he—and several others—heard three sharp knocks from inside the coffin. Fearing rumors of premature burial, they dug the coffin up and opened it, only to find Utley still very much deceased. The grave was re-filled… until the knocks came again. This time, they chalked it up to Collyn having used green lumber, which creaked under the pressure of the earth. Still, in a superstitious age, you can imagine the whispers that followed.

Then there was the case of Mrs. Philip Conn, who lived near the cemetery and could see the graveyard from her window. Gravely ill, she spotted Joe Sturgis, the town watchman, digging a grave—hers, as it turned out. Furious at the presumption, she reportedly vowed not to die out of sheer spite…and lived another two years.

Joe Sturgis himself wasn’t immune to trouble. Tasked with guarding the Corpse House against “resurrectionists” (body snatchers who sold cadavers to medical schools), he reluctantly agreed, fearing both the living and the dead. How thoroughly he patrolled is anyone’s guess, but locals suspected he made those nighttime checks rather quick.

Planning Your Visit

The Corpse House still stands where it has for over two centuries, beside the Lititz Moravian Congregation on Church Avenue, along the walkway to the parking lot. Here are the GPS coordinates: 40.155556, -76.302722. It is viewable from the outside year-round, and the interior is occasionally opened for special events. For a full experience, stroll through God’s Acre behind the church, where the Moravian tradition of flat, uniform headstones tells its own story of equality in death.

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Learn More

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For More Information, Visit:

• Lititz Moravian
• The Leichenkapelchen–Corpse House
• 6 interesting facts about Lititz
• The Top 5 Historical Hidden Gems in Lititz
• Dead house