The city is significantly increasing the fees for its services in the cemeteries. From July 1st, Munich residents will have to expect up to 30 percent higher costs if they have a death in the family or simply use a grave site. The health officer Beatrix Zurek (SPD), who is responsible for cemetery administration, cites increased costs for energy and personnel as well as urgently needed investment measures, especially in the predominantly historic cemetery buildings. The city council already approved their proposal on Wednesday.
A dirt grave in the first row previously cost 109 euros a year. In the future, 134 euros will be due, which corresponds to an increase of almost 23 percent. Citizens have to pay 224 euros per year for an urn grave with plants (previously 180 euros). A classic earth burial will be almost 35 percent more expensive; the price will be 2,059 instead of 1,526 euros. From July 1st, 1220 euros will have to be raised for an urn burial (previously 955 euros). The city offers a small compensation to users who want to keep their grave site long-term. “Citizens can extend their use of the grave at the old fees until June 30, 2024,” said health officer Zurek.
The head of the cemetery administration points out that she is legally obliged to prepare a cost-covering calculation. This was no longer possible with the previous prices for various reasons. Zurek is particularly concerned about the many old and sometimes historically valuable buildings in the cemeteries. She gave a few examples in her draft resolution: In the laying-out area of the East Cemetery, in the area of the arcades of the North Cemetery or the crypt in the West Cemetery, the ceilings were already coming off, she writes. Many company buildings are in such dire need of renovation that work processes could soon be at risk. The cemetery administration will have to spend significantly more than 200 million on renovations alone in the coming years.
But it’s not just the necessary investments, rising prices and personnel costs that cause problems, but also a noticeable decline in income. Behind this are social changes such as greater mobility in society, fewer ties to families and the trend towards alternative forms of burial such as cemetery, quiet forest or alpine meadow burials. The number of occupied graves in the 29 municipal cemeteries has fallen by almost 18,000 to a good 183,000 since 2010. The increasing costs of cemetery maintenance must therefore be passed on to fewer and fewer people paying.
According to the health department, more and more people are also choosing to be buried in an urn instead of a coffin. This means that the time spent in state is lost, which leads to a lack of revenue. Funeral ceremonies are no longer a matter of course. In 2022, with 2,200 deaths, none were held. For this item alone, income fell by around four million euros. The higher fees will initially apply until 2026, after which the cemetery administration will want to reassess whether they can operate solidly with these fees.