The last journey: how much are the funeral in Germany?

The death, burial, sad celebration, crowning earthly journey man – a very sensitive topic. But it is very important from a purely practical point of view. How to bury in Germany? Where? How much does it cost? What often choose the Germans?

Funeral – a very serious matter in all senses. And expensive. There is even a special insurance policy: Germans are saving for your own funeral, that their children will not got into debt. It is understandable why, in recent years, died in Germany are increasingly cremated – primarily, of course, if they so wish. This trend is confirmed by Christoph Kukelkorn (Christoph Kuckelkorn), owner of the largest funeral agency in Cologne with six branches in different parts of the city.

Those who decided on cremation, can choose a variety of forms of funeral services, for example, to dispel the dust in the air or drop it into the deep, buried in a specially-designated woodland, and even make the ashes of an artificial diamond

 

Legislation relating to the funeral, in Germany more stringent than in other European countries. “However, what in Germany is prohibited, permitted in neighboring countries, and our funeral agency is to meet clients, solving their problems with the help of foreign mediators,” – says Kukelkorn.

Anonymous graves and diamonds from the ashes

For example, to dispel the ashes of the dead is forbidden in Germany. According to the law, the deceased must be buried in the ground in one of the 36 thousand cemeteries, or cremated on the eighth day after the death. The only exceptions are cases where it is a crime or suspected that the crime was committed, and the body has to work criminologists. Terms of burial urns with ashes limited to three months from the date of cremation.

Keep the house urns with ashes in Germany is prohibited, they must be buried in the city cemetery or a tombstone or monument, or anonymously on special lawns or in designated forest areas – the so-called “forests of calm” (FriedWald). Dispel dust over the sea can only be in Switzerland, Austria and France. In Germany, the urn with ashes, made of special material, rapidly dissolves in salt water, simply lowered onto the seabed.

The most unusual form of the funeral – the transformation of the ashes with the help of new technologies in an artificial diamond. But also the most expensive. For example, the Swiss firm “Algordanza”, which offers the following services and cooperates with German and funeral agencies takes for them at least 20 thousand Swiss francs.

But back to the usual funeral services. The cost of seats on the German cemeteries, as well as the price of funeral services, set for yourself each federal state. However, in major German cities, the cost of these services is about the same.
Rental space for burial urns at cemeteries in Cologne costs about potory thousand euros, with a small tomb tombstone -1765 euros. Rent land for burial couples for 25 years will cost about two thousand euros for each coffin or urn separately.

The cost of the funeral service at the cemetery vary from 400 euros for an anonymous burial of up to 2 thousand euros – for the grave with care. Funeral Services Agency – a separate item of expenditure. This includes the cost of the coffin, the body embalming, storage and transport, – in total, two to five thousand euros. Funeral – depending on the number of people and scope – can cost several hundred euros and more. If all this we add the cost of tombstones and monuments, it is clear that to bury a loved one – fun in Germany is very expensive: from five to ten thousand euros.

New developments and trends

In recent decades, to the death and the funeral people were treated easier, without prior piety, that is possible, of course, to evaluate different. In vogue, such as coffins with the symbols of the beloved football club. In the city of Gelsenkirchen, for example, near the football stadium “Schalke”, there is a cemetery in which are buried for nearly two thousand fans of this traditional club. In Cologne there are burial fans “Cologne” command. Football fans can choose for themselves the urn in the form of a soccer ball.

It used to be, the richer the person, the more magnificent must be his funeral. Today, and this has changed. “Many wealthy people refuse lush and expensive funeral monuments on the graves, more willing to willing to” saved “so the money to their loved ones or charity funds”, – says Kukelkorn. Former musician important that at his funeral band played than if his grave was decorated with expensive tombstone.

It is interesting that, according to Kukelkorn, there are regional differences in Germany and in the field. For example, in Cologne, 60 percent of the dead are cremated, forty percent – are buried in the ground. But in the northern part of Germany, 90 per cent of the dead are cremated, Bavaria same, especially in rural areas – just the opposite trend: only 10 percent of cremated deceased.