Urns of the poor are buried together
social
There are 50 to 70 burials for the poor each year in the city of Salzburg – and the trend is rising. Individual burials were abolished four years ago and replaced by joint, non-denominational ceremonies.
In official German, there is talk of a “social funeral” when relatives or relatives of the deceased do not have the money for a funeral.
Community Ceremony
The urns will then be buried in rotation and together in a crypt in the city of Salzburg – including a prior ceremony in the funeral parlor in the municipal cemetery.
Families often have too little money
In December 2022, for example, the urns of twelve people were said goodbye in this way. The backgrounds are varied, says Verena Wengler, head of the municipal burial: “It’s often about the poor who also have no relatives. Or when families are at odds, when there is no longer any contact with this person. And there are families who simply cannot afford a funeral.”
At least for a final rest in the middle
After saying goodbye, the urns of the deceased are buried in a crypt in the middle of the cemetery. This should bring people better into the community, in the past the graves of the poor were always on the edges of the cemetery.