Pastor Hauschild following urns as they are transported on a trailer to the grave at Junkernberg Park Cemetery after a funeral service by the Tobias Brotherhood. Photos: Swen Pfortner/dpa
People die without close family nearby every year and many are buried anonymously, without ceremony.
Ten years ago, a brotherhood of Christians in Germany decided to change this and restore people's dignity by handling the burials of those without descendants.
"We wanted to take responsibility," says Harald Storz, a former pastor in Gottingen, of the Tobias Brotherhood.
He had the idea for the brotherhood together with Pastor Martin Hauschild of another parish, as both had attended or accompanied funerals of people who lacked money or relatives.
They were upset by the lack of dignity for those who had died.
"The urns are simply buried by cemetery employees," says Storz. "It is tragic when a person dies without family members."So 12 men founded the brotherhood in 2009. It's only open to Christian men.
"Most social tasks are taken on by women – in daycare centres, old people's homes or hospices," says Storz.Often, men are taught that they cannot take on such responsibilities, he says.
"But they can do that too. That's why we founded a brotherhood to explicitly address men."The idea of burial communities is not new.
"It is already mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew," says Gerold Eppler, deputy director of the museum for sepulchral culture in Kassel.One area of research the museum focuses on is mourning and burial customs.
"In the past, guilds and associations took care of the burials of people who did not have any family," Eppler says.In the 19th century, Prussian land law assigned the task to municipalities and churches but these days in Germany, without a group like the brotherhood, public offices handle the job instead and that creates new problems.
A Tobias brother lowers an urn into a grave during a community burial.
As it is cheaper, the deceased are usually cremated, says Eppler.
"But there are religions where cremations are not provided for. People should pay attention to that."The Tobias Brotherhood holds community burials four times a year in Gottingen, central Germany. Each time, they begin at 10am with a funeral service.
Current and former pastors among the 50 Tobias brothers deliver a sermon and read out the names of the deceased.
"We usually know nothing about the dead," says Brotherhood co-founder Storz.He keeps his funeral sermons vague and encourages mourners to consider questions such as, "With what hopes did their parents send them into life? Do you think they were successful at school or were they left behind?"
All the while, the urns stand on a pedestal with name tags attached and the mourners light candles in front of them.
Often, alongside the Tobias brothers, friends and acquaintances of the deceased come to say their goodbyes. Around 50 to 70 guests come on average, says Brotherhood member Gerhard von Hugo.
"Many people who die without family members who would be responsible for their burial did not lead completely lonely lives," he says.
A week before the funeral, the names of the dead are published in the Gottinger Tageblatt newspaper in a funeral notice that is free of charge.
Last year, 784 people were buried in Gottingen's four municipal cemeteries, according to the city. Most were buried in an urn.
Urns and candles stand on a table in the chapel at Junkernberg Park Cemetery during a funeral service of the Tobias Brotherhood.
There have been 90 to 100 official burials in the city every year, most carried out by the Tobias Brotherhood. At their first funerals, the number was still in the single digits, says Storz, but there are likely to be more and more, according to the Protestant Regional Church.
Many other cities have smaller initiatives that are welcomed by church officials.
"As a Protestant church, it is important for us that no person is buried anonymously," a spokesperson says. Usually the funeral service in Gottingen lasts three quarters of an hour.
Afterwards, the urns of the deceased are taken to the gravesite. They are blessed and buried in a communal grave, with a pit shared by a maximum of 16 people.
The names of the deceased are inscribed on granite steles at the gravesites and mourners can come and say their goodbyes.
"Many throw flowers or earth into the grave, while other people sing," says von Hugo.
This kind of burial is also the least expensive. The Tobias Brotherhood in Gottingen is organised on a voluntary basis, and receives support from the Protestant congregations in the city.
That does not pay the costs of the burials, however. The city of Gottingen, for example, provides the chapel free of charge and the office of public order pays for the cremation, says von Hugo.
It doesn't matter to the Tobias Brotherhood what religion the people they bury followed during their lives.
"We don't ask questions about their faith," says Storz.The deceased come from all ages and social classes. Many people live alone, without close family members, he says.
The main thing is that the Tobias Brotherhood ensures that they are not buried alone. – dpa
