One of Composer Joseph Haydn's closest friends and sincerest admirers was a phrenology enthusiast named Carl Rosenbaum. Two nights after Haydn's funeral in 1809, Rosenbaum took a shovel, a lantern and a brace of helpers to the fresh grave. When he left, he carried Haydn's head under his arm. His purpose: to save the great man's cranium for the study and admiration of future phrenologists.
The deed was not discovered until eleven years later, when Prince Esterhazy, grandson of Haydn's patron, ordered the remains transferred to a finer tomb on the Esterhazy estate. The...
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