Are cemeteries evolving into vivid social hubs?

Cemeteries have long been seen as quiet place of reflection, but changing mourning practices redefined it as a space for the dead.

“On the ground, the cemetery is also a place to live,” said Christian Jäger, managing director of the German Funeral Curator Association.

In many places, the park-like ground is the green lung of the urban microclimate. The Association of Undertakers said that although within reasonable limits, this is possible.

Although burial grounds are still in “deep sleep,” in some countries, entertainment and social activities in cemeteries have become increasingly common.

In the Scandinavian country, a city planning case study points to the growing interest in transforming urban cemeteries into leisure spaces.

This study based on interviews in Norway and Sweden shows that although quiet activities such as stroll or sitting are widely accepted, views are divided on more active uses, such as jogging or dog dogs.

It reports that cultural and religious contexts, personal intentions and cemetery design all shape what is respected.

In Germany, some municipalities are building mobile cafes for cemeteries. Once a month, about 20 people meet at a cemetery center in Rheine, near the Dutch border.

“Talk, laugh, exchange ideas – these are things you can do in the cemetery as well,” said Anna Holder, pastor of the Catholic Diocese of Esshandorf.

The plan brings people together, she said, or they would only visit the graves of loved ones in silent mourning.

A new understanding of grief suggests that unlike traditional Western approaches, people now seek to keep a bond with the dead and incorporate memory into their lives in their absence.

Many cultures around the world have mourning ways to openly view death as part of a life worth celebrating. For example, Mexico’s “Diet Day” is celebrated every year because of family honors and remembers the music and celebrations of the dead.

Memorial spaces and rituals are also changing

Some cemeteries are performing music and lighting events. In Dusseldorf, Germany, a saint-all-day event allows mourners to visit the city’s northern cemetery to experience the cultural center and spaces in the middle of the city.

Features include folk music and jazz music, trees and tombstones light up in bright colors and torch trips.

Various colors and creativity also play an increasingly role in funerals. “One of the things we've been observing for years is that saying goodbye is getting more and more colorful,” Jaeger said. Usually, when they're still alive, people decide how to say goodbye.

“Guests sometimes wear bright clothes to attend funerals.”

Marie Thiermann from the Lebenslicht funeral home in Dusseldorf said others performed in different spaces. “Most of the time, life is colorful and diverse, so farewell service should be no different from funerals.

The urns and coffins can be painted in bright colors. People have organized what Thiermann calls “celebration of life” in zoos, bars or indoor cycling arenas.

The creativity involved requires no boundaries, she said: “Whether we are using the earth of the cemetery, grandpa’s workshop or confetti sawdust in memory of the late Carnival organizer.”

The cemetery itself can also be colorful. “Leaves in the Wind” is a funeral that was possible in Valsellen Cemetery near Yaxing.

It involves colorful glass leaves that can be engraved under the name of the dead and float on a frame made of thin stainless steel tubes. The deceased was buried under leaves installation, in a public urn.

New trend? Number QR code on tombstone

There are many ways to say goodbye, not only in the cemetery, but online as well. “We have become a very dispersed society,” Jaeger said. Often, people choose to celebrate hybrid farewells these days, such as through online mourning sites where family and friends can upload photos or movies.

In TV host and science journalist Jean Pütz told several media that he hoped his tombstone could be scanned to watch videos he recorded years ago, an unusual tombstone with QR codes engraved on it.

He is not the only one to be equipped for digital visitors. The grave of the inventor Heinz Kunert at Meratton Cemetery in Cologne also has a QR code that provides information about his life.

Jäger has never seen QR codes on tombstones before, but it is increasingly common for people to plan and choose funeral services, burials and resting places in their lives.

“Death is no longer a taboo topic,” he said.