1998 - Tree Burial

Diversity in Funeral Practices

This section was established in 1998. In no other part of the cemetery is the change in burial customs so clearly evident. Here we find many modern forms of burial and row graves. The demand for burial in family graves or row graves is declining. In contrast, the demand for a wide variety of grave types and burial methods is on the rise. Cremation is now the norm. There are many reasons for this. Often, people lack the means or the willingness to maintain a grave over the long term. Family structures are changing, and cost-benefit considerations play a role. Remembrance and mourning are becoming separated from the grave site and shifting elsewhere. Cemeteries are becoming multicultural.

This trend poses major challenges for cemetery administrations. At the same time, as graves or burial plots become available, it offers them new opportunities to design burial options. For example, the first tree graves were created here: urns are placed in the ground around the tree, and the name of the deceased is displayed on a plaque attached to the tree trunk or on a stele.

The wind blows a leaf off the tree, one among many leaves, this one leaf—you hardly notice it, because one is not one.

But this page alone, was part of our lives, So this page alone will be, we keep missing.

(Rainer Maria Rilke)

1998 - Tree Burial

1998 - IMPRESSIONS