It is so silent. Only the leaves are stirring. One after the other sails from the gingerbread tree and says goodbye to autumn in great calm. Only once did the bell ring excitedly from the funeral parlor. A contemplative spectacle on a newly created island in the cemetery at Perlacher Forst. Two new benches have been here for a few weeks, framed by long grass and late bloomers, with a view of the tree in a meadow and a stele: “Because we have no permanent city here,” a stonemason engraved in capital letters on the sandstone-colored column , Psalm 13:14 from Hebrews. What could be better suited for this site: Here is the first dedicated burial ground for deceased homeless people in the city. It was inaugurated on October 28th.
“So far, homeless people in Munich have been buried in individual graves in our 26 cemeteries,” says Peter Lippert, deputy head of the municipal cemeteries and head of graves management. He is sitting on the bench in front of the gingerbread tree. For example, if a homeless person lived under the Wittelsbach Bridge for many years, the administration tried to bury him in a nearby cemetery if possible after his death. “He had contacts and connections at his place of residence, if you will, and maybe someone from there would like to visit his grave.” With the new burial ground it is now possible “to offer these people a dignified burial place in a central place”.
The idea comes from the Catholic Men’s Welfare Association in Munich (KMFV). Gerd Reifferscheid is project manager there. “Because many homeless people were spread across the different cemeteries, depending on which facility they lived in before, we were sometimes unable to maintain the graves in a sustainable manner.” Elderly homeless people in particular who sleep in KMFH facilities have repeatedly asked pastors where they go when they die. “Roughly ten to 15 men die in our facilities every year,” Reifferscheid estimates. “But many also have graves in their home towns, where they are then buried.” In Oberschleißheim there is already a common burial ground for the homeless, as is now the case in Munich. “We thought it was a good and worthy cause.” Both in the municipal cemetery administration and in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, in whose area the KMFV works charitably, open doors have been knocked down.
“For we have no lasting city here,” says the pillar, Psalm 13:14 from the letter to the Hebrews.
(Photo: Andrea Schlaier)
“Even homeless people often live in a community, even if they no longer have family ties, they should also have a community after death,” says Lippert. The area that was designed for these people has been largely fallow for some time – only five old family graves can be found there under field maple and oak. Karin Schmid, landscape architect at the municipal cemeteries, arranged a total of 56 graves in four groups in a loose division and created a central square with benches, a stele and a planted semicircle. Lippert is impressed by the result: “Here you can sit down with a view of the graves and commemorate the people in peace.”
The Catholic Men’s Welfare Association has bought twelve grave sites. Each of them can accommodate either two coffins or eight urns. The turf graves are plain; on each one rests a large stone with a name plate. There is enough space to place a flower here or to set up a candle.
If you no longer have any family ties when you die in Munich, you get an “ex officio burial” in technical jargon. Behind this is the conviction, says Lippert, “that everyone has the right to a dignified burial”. The annual number of this group is in the four-digit range. In around 700 cases, the city has to make financial advance payments and bear the costs. “This also includes people who have died alone in their apartment, have not taken any precautions and for whom no relatives can initially be identified.” It’s not always about poor people. “Some are very solvent. But our society is getting older. It often happens that only one of the family is there.” If there are still relatives or an estate, “we’ll get the costs back”. An urn burial including cremation currently costs around 1500 euros. For an official burial, you have to reckon with an average of 4000 euros.
Reifferscheid and Lippert hope that other social organizations that look after the homeless in Munich will also take advantage of the offer in the cemetery at Perlacher Forst in the future. You think of the social service of Catholic women, housing assistance or diaconia. In this context, Peter Lippert refers to the association of the street newspaper bitewhich already has a small burial ground for the homeless in the Ostfriedhof.
The square will be officially inaugurated on October 28th. “The burials on our burial ground take place in a Christian context, but they are non-denominational,” explains Reifferscheid. Whether with or without shelter, the dignified process plays a central role in official burials, says Lippert. “In all cases, the coffin or urn is briefly laid out in the funeral parlour.” A song for moving in and one for moving out. Then the cemetery staff accompany the deceased to the final resting place and close the grave. The last autumn leaves are falling from the gingerbread tree in front of Peter Lippert.