Swiss Burial/Grave Customs - ?
Apr 30th, 2016, 08:41 PM
#21
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Ashes scattered by fireworks is ok in the Netherlands? In the final scene of the movie "Good bye Lenin", Alex scatters his mother's ashes in sky using a bursting rocket. He quibbled in the movie it was neither allowed by the West or the former East Germany.
May 1st, 2016, 08:08 AM
#23
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It is interesting how much variety folks show in dealing with remains of their loved ones. A Swiss firm will take the ashes and produce an artificial diamond that can be worn, and other firms fuse the ashes into glass ornaments. I smile thinking of my Grandmother as a refrigerator magnet.
As a matter of fact, my wife who is a glass artist has had commissions for memorial reliquaries that include a small compartment for ashes in a piece of fused glass art. More attractive, IMO, than an urn sitting on the mantle.
As a matter of fact, my wife who is a glass artist has had commissions for memorial reliquaries that include a small compartment for ashes in a piece of fused glass art. More attractive, IMO, than an urn sitting on the mantle.
May 2nd, 2016, 12:13 AM
#24
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I always enjoy wandering around old graveyards, and they are also prime material for genealogists, especially for places like Ireland, where historical records for more than the past 150 years are practically nonexistent.
If people are going to make Grandma into a refrigerator magnet, maybe they should also at least put a plaque somewhere, that won't get erased in 20 years. Do cemeteries in these northern European countries allow for the maintenance of memorial plaques that will remain in the cemetery for centuries rather than decades? I know that many of these countries have vital events registers that go back to the 18th century, and that many (or most) of them are now available in digital form. However, to find things in a database, you have to form a query. A cemetery is more like a book that you can browse, and find things that you didn't know to look for.
If people are going to make Grandma into a refrigerator magnet, maybe they should also at least put a plaque somewhere, that won't get erased in 20 years. Do cemeteries in these northern European countries allow for the maintenance of memorial plaques that will remain in the cemetery for centuries rather than decades? I know that many of these countries have vital events registers that go back to the 18th century, and that many (or most) of them are now available in digital form. However, to find things in a database, you have to form a query. A cemetery is more like a book that you can browse, and find things that you didn't know to look for.
May 2nd, 2016, 12:34 AM
#25
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>> what happens after a death? <<
In Germany, the body will be for three days or more in a funeral home. There, it can be viewed by person who wish to do it.
Then comes the burial ceremony. Family and friends gather in a chapel on the cemetary and there will be a ceremony by a pastor or, in case of a deceased atheist, a hired speaker. Usually there is live music. The ceromony will last 30 to 60 minutes.
Then everybody follows the coffin or urn to the gravesite. There is another ceremony, but very brief, just a prayer. Then the coffin or urn is laid into the grave and ladies would throw rose petals into the grave while the men shovel tiny bits of earth into the pit.
Then, the closer circle of family and friends gathers in a restaurant, sometimes in a private home.
In Germany, the body will be for three days or more in a funeral home. There, it can be viewed by person who wish to do it.
Then comes the burial ceremony. Family and friends gather in a chapel on the cemetary and there will be a ceremony by a pastor or, in case of a deceased atheist, a hired speaker. Usually there is live music. The ceromony will last 30 to 60 minutes.
Then everybody follows the coffin or urn to the gravesite. There is another ceremony, but very brief, just a prayer. Then the coffin or urn is laid into the grave and ladies would throw rose petals into the grave while the men shovel tiny bits of earth into the pit.
Then, the closer circle of family and friends gathers in a restaurant, sometimes in a private home.
May 2nd, 2016, 01:04 AM
#26
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I don't know what happens to the headstones when a grave is cleared.
Here a funeral must take place within 5 working days of the death, unless there is an autopsy or something to delay it. If you choose to have the body viewed there is normally time for that the evening before the funeral, when anyone who knew the deceased can attend, and also offer condolences to the family. The viewing was immediately before the service at the last funeral we went to. We chose not to view the body.
Sometimes after the service everyone files past the coffin before it goes for cremation, rather than it just going behind a curtain or whatever.
The funeral director or crematorium usually provides coffee and sandwiches or cake after the service. Expensive and not very nice tbh. Everyone also then queues to offer condolences to the family. It always seems lie torture to me, having to stand there for an hour, shaking hands and making small talk with a bunch of people you may barely know, having just buried/cremated your loved one.
I have left instructions to be cremated in silence and for my children to go out for a good meal on me.
Ashes are held at the crematorium for 30 days "thinking time", after which they are released to the relatives, or scattered in a special area. Basically you can do what you like with the ashes.
My parents died several years apart (in the UK) and were cremated at different crematoriums. We collected my father's ashes, after a couple of weeks, and scattered them in the same area as my mother's were scattered at the first crematorium. Just the family and one close friend who hadn't been able to attend the funeral. No bench, no marker, just the memories. I have never felt the need to visit the site again.
Same with my in-laws, though my SIL for some reason I shall never understand took my aunt-in-laws ashes and scattered them at assorted spots throughout England. We had no say in that.
My children know what to do with my ashes when the time comes.
I guess future archaeologists will struggle with the death rituals here
.
Here a funeral must take place within 5 working days of the death, unless there is an autopsy or something to delay it. If you choose to have the body viewed there is normally time for that the evening before the funeral, when anyone who knew the deceased can attend, and also offer condolences to the family. The viewing was immediately before the service at the last funeral we went to. We chose not to view the body.
Sometimes after the service everyone files past the coffin before it goes for cremation, rather than it just going behind a curtain or whatever.
The funeral director or crematorium usually provides coffee and sandwiches or cake after the service. Expensive and not very nice tbh. Everyone also then queues to offer condolences to the family. It always seems lie torture to me, having to stand there for an hour, shaking hands and making small talk with a bunch of people you may barely know, having just buried/cremated your loved one.
I have left instructions to be cremated in silence and for my children to go out for a good meal on me.
Ashes are held at the crematorium for 30 days "thinking time", after which they are released to the relatives, or scattered in a special area. Basically you can do what you like with the ashes.
My parents died several years apart (in the UK) and were cremated at different crematoriums. We collected my father's ashes, after a couple of weeks, and scattered them in the same area as my mother's were scattered at the first crematorium. Just the family and one close friend who hadn't been able to attend the funeral. No bench, no marker, just the memories. I have never felt the need to visit the site again.
Same with my in-laws, though my SIL for some reason I shall never understand took my aunt-in-laws ashes and scattered them at assorted spots throughout England. We had no say in that.
My children know what to do with my ashes when the time comes.
I guess future archaeologists will struggle with the death rituals here
.
May 2nd, 2016, 01:37 AM
#27
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Many of the older headstones in my English village churchyard are so weatherworn that the inscriptions are no longer legible. Some headstones have been moved from the gravesite and stacked near the church building. I don't know if the parish keeps records of burial sites, or if the deceased are now forgotten. Any insights on this?
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