funerals

poland

It's your funeral - burial culture changes

The accidental theft of 12 bodies in a van exposed the now routine shipping of corpses around the country, and even abroad, for cheap cremation. <b>Philippa Wentzel</b> found changes afoot in Germany's burial culture.

bunt

Grave error: woman finds skull at mum's headstone

A grieving woman who went to tend her mother’s grave in Cologne got the shock of her life when she found a skull, complete with a set of teeth, in the mud by the headstone.

death

Pet death services cater to grieving owners

A growing industry is catering to Germans devastated by their pets’ deaths. Businesses can arrange everything from burial services to cremation – and even turn the ashes of Fluffy and Fido into diamond jewellery.

Business

Discount undertakers hide real funeral costs

Unscrupulous discount undertakers are increasingly taking advantage of grieving relatives. Those mourning their loved ones are being deliberately conned with special offers that entail hidden costs.

death

Academy for undertakers offers 'recession-proof' job training

German trainee undertakers are being put through their paces at Europe's only "funeral school" in Münnerstadt - anything but a dying business in the fast-ageing continent.

Crime

Crematorium probe exposes harvesting corpses for gold teeth

An investigation of crematorium employees in Hamburg accused of harvesting gold teeth and jewellery from customer corpses has uncovered a sensitive topic that the majority of German morticians refuse to address publicly, a funeral industry newspaper reported on Friday.

blood

Discounting death

Discount supermarkets and economy airlines have long done a roaring trade in Germany, but an increasing number of Germans are taking their thriftiness to the grave. The Local’s <b>Kristen Allen</b> reports on the trend toward bargain burials and anonymous funerals.