Tree graves in cemeteries: Lüneburg expands offer
On the Sunday of the Dead, many people used to go to the cemeteries to commemorate their deceased at decorated graves. With increasing mobility, grave maintenance is no longer so easy. The trend towards low-maintenance memorials is increasing. Cemeteries are offering more and more tree graves - urn areas under trees or grouped around them. What originally began in the cemetery forests and resting forests is now also offered by most cemetery administrations. "I experience time and again that people have very special bonds with trees," said Lüneburg's cemetery manager Hans Hockemeyer.
"I am convinced that the offer of tree burials in cemeteries is at least on a par with that of the competitors in the forests," emphasized Hockemeyer, who is Chairman of the Northern Working Group of Municipal Cemeteries. Relatives are offered an infrastructure that is usually not available in the forest. This includes, in particular, barrier-free access to tree graves, which is particularly important for older people.
He believes that many local authorities have missed out on the trend towards low-maintenance tree graves. "The cemetery culture was far too rigid. We have to adapt to the wishes of our customers," says Hockemeyer, referring to the many empty cemeteries. In Lüneburg, the proportion of urn graves is now 70 percent, so there is a huge surplus of space. "I have to advertise death, that's our tax money. And the fewer burials there are, the more expensive it becomes for the individual," he explained.
Tree graves offer a concrete place to mourn with a single headstone. And one argument for this could also be that these graves almost all look similar - the wallet is not the deciding factor for the design. "They are even more equal before the Lord," said Hockemeyer. The cemetery team in Lüneburg has just created a further 120 tree graves for up to four urns.
In Hanover, too, the trend is for relatives to choose graves where the care is already included and does not have to be provided by the family, according to the city council. There are two variants around trees in the municipal cemeteries. The number of graves around trees has more than doubled from 46 burials in 2019 to 110 last year. The number of urn burials in the Seelwald forest - only at the Seelhorst municipal cemetery - also increased from 134 to 181 in the same period.
"The trend towards low-maintenance memorials has led to an increase in cemeteries offering tree graves, providing a concrete place for mourning in nature."
"Many people have special bonds with trees, making tree graves an attractive option in cemeteries for those seeking a more natural and low-maintenance memorial."
Source: www.dpa.com
