Tattoo FAQ

The history of tattoos goes way back to the pre-Christian era. Marks were carved into the skin as early as 12,000 BC. Ash was rubbed into deliberately added wounds to create a pattern.

Around 8,000 BC, pointed objects such as thorns or comb-like tools were used to pierce small holes in the skin. Instead of ash, insoluble color pigments were used for the tiny wounds.

The oldest tattooed human ever discovered is "Ötzi", the approximately 5,500-year-old glacier mummy. His tattoos were apparently used for therapeutic purposes, as the tattoos were engraved on areas of the body prone to illness - such as the lumbar region, the knee and the ankles. The tattoo seems to have been a special type of acupuncture.

In 1765, the British captain James Cook reported on his first voyage to Polynesia and described people who painted their bodies with color. The seafarer and explorer introduced the word "tattoo" into the English language and made skin art known in large parts of Europe.
In the 18th century, tattooed Polynesians were brought to the royal courts and marveled at. A subsequent wave of fashion helped tattoos make their way into the highest social circles.

For a long time, however, tattoos were seen as an appearance of socially marginalized groups. Tattoos adorned sailors and prisoners. Artists and circus performers earned their daily bread by displaying their artistic skin patterns.

Since the sixties, body art has been a means of expressing immediate freedom and self-realization - and what emerged back then among hippies, punks and rockers has long since spread to all social classes and is now more popular and more socially accepted than ever.