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Remembering the Erfurt latrine disaster

adam12 February 7th
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

What can I say? I have poop on the brain. And I fell down a Wiki rabbit hole. So let’s talk about the Erfurt latrine disaster, shall we?

 

Again, I blame Depths of Wikipedia for this kick I’m on as of late. I didn’t find this through them, but the Wikipedia-related arcana that the Twitter feed shares got me thinking about weird stuff on the internet. Props to Annie Rauwerda who runs Depths of Wiki and has shared with the world the fact that there’s an active volcano called Stromboli and a town called Dildo. I haven’t seen her share any poop content. Yet.

 

Remembering the Erfurt latrine disaster

According to this Wikipedia entry:

The Erfurt latrine disaster occurred in July 1184, when Henry VI, King of Germany (later Holy Roman Emperor), held a Hoftag (informal assembly) in the Petersberg Citadel in Erfurt. On the morning of 26 July, the combined weight of the assembled nobles caused the wooden second story floor of the building to collapse and most of them fell through into the latrine cesspit below the ground floor, where about 60 of them drowned in liquid excrement.

 

Pardon my French–and forgive me for grabbing the low-hanging fruit–but holy shit. So you’ve got this situation developing in Europe hundreds of years ago. Feuds are simmering, wars are breaking out, and Henry VI, King of Germany, decides to do something about it. He calls in leaders from all over the Holy Roman Empire, and before they can even start a dialogue?

 

The floor collapses under their combined weight and they all fall into the latrine in the cellar and die. Some drown from the liquid poop, some suffocate from the fumes. It’s a nightmare scenario. But also funny?

 

I’m trying to imagine a modern-day version of this and all I can come up with if, say, the G7 Summit had a plumbing malfunction that somehow spread excrement everywhere. But that seems so far-fetched for modern-day politics. And poop. Keep scrolling for more toilet death, if you dare.

Here's a List of People Who Died on the Toilet

What started as my own morbid curiosity has now lead to this list of people who died on the toilet. I apologize for nothing.

 

I was going to hang onto this list and share it on the anniversary of Elvis Presley‘s death, but I thought that would be in poor taste. Oh, who am I kidding? I’m 100% going to bring this list back on the anniversary of The King going off to glory. So if you end up reading this in mid-August: yes, I know it’s in poor taste. And once again, I apologize for nothing.

 

I blame Depths of Wikipedia. Not directly, mind you. I didn’t find this list through them, but the Wikipedia-related arcana that the Twitter feed shares got me thinking about weird stuff on the internet. Props to Annie Rauwerda who runs Depths of Wiki and has shared with the world the fact that there’s an active volcano called Stromboli and a town called Dildo, but I don’t think she’s shared the poop list. Yet.

 

Here’s a List of People Who Died on the Toilet

To paraphrase reggae legend Cutty Ranks, there are six million ways to die. But to die on the toilet is a particularly undignified way to go. Granted, some toilet-diers got what was coming to them. Tywin Lannister from Game of Thrones, for instance. “And what? You’ll kill your own father in the privy?” Actually, yes. Tyrion will. And did. Classic.

 

This list isn’t fiction, though. It’s fact. There are modern-day toilet deaths, there are historical toilet deaths. And my list is just an abridged version of Wikipedia’s master list. Look, if anything, you’ll have some new, interesting knowledge to impress your friends or maybe score you a few extra points at your local bar’s trivia night. Just don’t forget to flush.

 

  • Coolio

    The beloved rapper is the most recent person of renown to go into the bathroom and not come out again.

    Coolio Dies at 59

  • Chun Doo-hwan

    The South Korean military dictator died in 2021.

  • Jorge Rafael Videla

    Another dictator who met his demise in the loo. It’s like there’s a karmic pattern emerging here.

  • Christopher Shale

    Didn’t just die on any old toilet: died in a porta-potty.

  • Elvis Presley

    Arguably the most famous person to ever die on the toilet.

    GALLERY: Classic Images of Elvis Presley

  • George Dyer

    Famously depicted by the artist Francis Bacon.

  • Judy Garland

    Arguably the most famous person to ever die on the toilet.

  • George II

    King of Great Britain, died in 1760.

  • Nagao Kagetora

    Japanese feudal lord; assassinated while using the toilet.

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