As you may or may not be able to judge from the picture, Hans Steininger had a truly tremendous beard. A whole four and a half foot of tremendousness, in fact. The beard is still on display in the Braunau am Inn museum in Austria, such was the previously unmitigated level of tremendousness Steininger's beard held. Even way back in the 16th century, people were suckers for such curiosities, and as such, Steininger was celebrated as having the longest beard in the world, even having to roll it up in order to comfortably maneuver himself about town. What the beard wasn't built for, however, was the very real danger of being a fire hazard. This problem reared up in 1567, when a fire began to spread in town, and surprisingly, it didn't cause the Austrian's death by setting light to his beard. Instead, it caused Steininger to panic and attempt to flee to safety, all whilst forgetting to roll up his beard, which made him trip over his own facial hair and break his neck. It is almost as if the beard, tired of the rigours and responsibilities thrust upon him by a life of fame, went all Kurt Cobain and decided to end it all before it got too much for him.
