May I keep the ashes of a deceased person at home?

In most German federal states: no. Friedhofszwang requires all of the ashes to be interred in a cemetery or in a state-approved alternative form (sea, woodland or alpine meadow burial). Keeping the ashes in an urn at home is not permitted in 15 of the 16 states. Exception: Bremen: since 2015 the Bremen burial act has permitted smaller quantities of ash to be released to the bereaved for private keeping - though the main quantity must still be interred in a cemetery. Toleration in practice: in practice, the release of very small quantities of ash for memorial jewellery (for example an ash pendant; see Ash Pendant) or a memorial diamond (see Memorial Diamond) is quietly tolerated by many funeral directors, as long as the main quantity of the ashes is buried in the regular way. Legally, the safer route is to move the process abroad (for example to Switzerland or the Netherlands).

How do memorial jewellery providers work around Friedhofszwang legally?

Several routes. Processing abroad: providers of memorial diamonds (for example Algordanza in Switzerland, LONITÉ in the USA and Switzerland) process the ash in a country without a cemetery requirement. The ash is exported from Germany under strict documentation - a legal grey area, but established in practice. Release of the smallest quantities: some funeral directors officially release "memorial portions", described as symbolic quantities of ash that are held not to fall under the cemetery requirement - legally contested. Sea burial with preparation: in a sea burial the ashes are committed to the sea in a water-soluble urn - and before that interment, some funeral cooperatives make it possible to release a partial quantity. The Bremen solution: anyone living in Bremen, or having the burial handled in Bremen, can legally receive a smaller quantity of ash to keep.

Which forms of burial count as permissible alternatives to a cemetery?

Several state-approved forms of burial are not exceptions to Friedhofszwang - they are approved burial arrangements. Sea burial: interment of the ashes in a water-soluble urn in designated marine areas (the North Sea and Baltic, international waters). Authorised and carried out by specialist shipping companies. Woodland burial: interment of the ashes beneath an approved burial tree in a Friedwald, RuheForst or natural burial site. Several hundred such sites exist in Germany. Alpine meadow burial: in some states (Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg) on approved alpine meadow sites. Anonymous burial: in approved areas with shared anonymous interment. Garden or home burial: not permitted in Germany - not even on private property. Scattering ashes in a private garden or a public park (on a favourite mountain, say, or by a lake) is not permitted in Germany; in Switzerland, by contrast, it is in principle lawful.

What is the legal position in Austria and Switzerland?

Austria likewise knows the cemetery requirement in principle, but with considerably more liberal interpretations depending on the province. In some Austrian provinces the release of small quantities of ash for memorial jewellery is officially provided for. Switzerland: no cemetery requirement. After cremation the ashes may be released freely to the bereaved; keeping them at home, or scattering them on private property, in nature (outside protected zones) or at sea, is in principle permitted. Thanks to these liberal rules, several high-quality providers of memorial diamonds and ash jewellery have become established in Switzerland (see Memorial Diamond). Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavia: likewise considerably more liberal than Germany. USA, United Kingdom: complete freedom of disposal over the ashes.

Friedhofszwang - Mandatory Cemetery Burial (Germany)

Friedhofszwang is the duty, in force in Germany, to bury mortal remains - including ashes from a cremation - only in an approved cemetery or in a state-approved alternative form of burial. It sets the legal limits on what is possible with ashes in the context of mourning and memorial jewellery.

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