In Germany it seems that very much attention is given to upkeeping grave sites, perhaps because the buried people are not so long gone.
To explain further, something different for me in Europe is the concept of "grave rental" here. The exact amount of time varies, but the basic concept is that you pay for a period of time and then perhaps renew it, but ultimately, 'your' grave will turn over to someone else at some point. Occasionally as we were walking we'd see the little stick marker with a phone number in a plot, indicated that it was 'available'.
As always, gotta love the Germany recycling attitude. The green bin is for biodegradable items.
Am hoping someone can explain this one. A little stepping stone path was leading up to this structure. It is like an upsidedown U. In front of it were a lot of temporary cut flowers. There was no sign or markings at all.
This covered bridge connected one side of the cemetery with the other.
Still up, more photos as we continue our search. By the way, we're looking for a granite obelisk. The map at the front entrance put it somewhere in this area.
4 comments:
Not sure, but the upside down U could be a place for people to put flowers in remembrance of those who are in anonymous, unmarked graves somewhere else in the cemetery. The rule in Germany is that even if you're not religious, you *must* to be buried (either in a coffin or cremated in an urn) in a cemetery somewhere, so some people choose the anonymous option.
The tending the grave thing has a long tradition. My mother in law still tends to her deceased parents' graves - Opa passed away in 1987 and Oma in 1999. I think the rental period for the plots is something like 25 years.
ah christina, thanks for the further info. i did not know about that rule, very interesting.
Thanks, Christia, I didn't know that either. Quite interesting.
Heather, I LOVE covered bridges. I wonder why they rent plots here instead of buying them like we're used to? It must make tracing one's family history quite difficult.
J: It is indeed a beauty of a covered bridge here, I am impartial to them myself, but this one was quite nice.
Regarding the family research, i imagine Germans trust that all documentation will be properly upheld where filed, so why would you need a cemetery for such research? :-)
I'm not sure on the rental reasons either, but I saw the same thing in Switzerland. Must research this point further.
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