death

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.

Cologne

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.

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.

death

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.