Grave, urn, & Co.: Alternative burial and funeral options – an overview

From traditional burials to alternative funerals

Before you delve into the topics of traditional or alternative forms of burial, you should first ask yourself whether you are looking for an in-ground burial or a cremation:

• In-ground burial: The most common form of burial in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland and in most other Western countries is in-ground / grave burial. With this form of burial, the deceased is picked up by a funeral home, where they are dressed and placed in a casket. You will be responsible for preparing and arranging for a funeral service and burial ceremony. The funeral service usually opens with the public viewing of the casket in a chapel or funeral parlor. The funeral procession will afterwards enter the church where the congregation will pray for the deceased and listen to readings or pieces of music. The ceremony concludes with a procession to the cemetery. Most people opt for an in-ground burial including gravestone. You can, however, also choose a tomb / mausoleum. Finally, you can decide to be buried in an anonymous grave – with no gravestone and usually no funeral ceremony, which makes this option less personal, but also less costly. One advantage of this classic funeral option lies in the fact that it gives mourners a specific place of commemoration to which they can return whenever they wish to be close to the departed. Another benefit is the ability to decorate the grave to their liking with plants, candles and other decorative materials. The flip side of the coin: You can expect steep funeral costs and cemetery fees and need to make many decisions in a short period of time. This can make you feel overwhelmed.
• Cremation: An alternative funeral that is becoming increasingly popular is cremation. Just as with an in-ground burial, the deceased is picked up, dressed and placed in a casket. The difference is in the last step, where the deceased is prepared for cremation. There is a total of 17 crematories in Austria which offer cremation services. The ashes are subsequently placed in an urn. This form of burial also provides for the option of hosting a funeral ceremony at the burial site. Mourners can even be given an opportunity to bid farewell to the casket immediately prior to the cremation. The downside: In many cases, this option fails to provide the bereaved a place of mourning that is freely accessible to them at all times. Also, some people have a hard time making the same emotional connection with ashes that they manage to develop with a casket. The advantage: The cost associated with cremations is usually much lower than the cost of in-ground burials, which is why this alternative form of burial is chosen with increasing frequency. What is more, this type of funeral offers a wide range of burial options. What these are specifically will be explained in more detail below.

Ashes to ashes: Burial options following a cremation

In a forest, on top of a mountain, in a river or even as a sparkling gemstone – there is a large variety of final resting places or new spheres of activity for the ashes of deceased loved ones. Here are a few options:

• Urn at the cemetery: You can bury an urn in an in-ground grave at a cemetery. Some cemeteries also possess their own urn gardens or areas.
• Urn at home: Those who wish to do so can take the urn home and pay their last respect to the deceased, for instance, in their backyard. The downside: This individual place of mourning may deprive others of the option of grieving for the departed.
• Natural burial: Natural burials in particular are a burial practice that is becoming ever more popular, especially if the deceased was particularly close to nature or the bereaved prefer an appealing place of commemoration away from the cemetery. This practice also eliminates the need for grooming the grave, which has become a chore and challenge in our time of increasing mobility. The following types of natural burial are available:
  • Tree pod burial: This type of burial involves the burying of the urn in the root system of a tree. You can choose between single or partner trees as well as family and community trees. In Upper Austria, this type of burial can currently be performed at four locations: Friedwald Clam, Waldfrieden Steyrling, Ruhewald Luftenberg, and Thanruh Urnenforst.
  • Burial at sea / in the Danube: This alternative form of burial involves the burial of the ashes on a river, at sea or in a lake. In Austria, this practice is only possible in a few sections of the Danube, such as Hainburg or Krems.
  • (Alm) meadow and mountainside burial: Certain meadows can be considered for a meadow burial. In this form of burial the ashes are placed into a previously created opening in the turf before the opening is sealed again. In some cases, this is also possible on a mountainside.
  • Grapevine burial: An even more special form of burial is the burial of an urn near grapevines. So far, the parish churchyard in Nussdorf has been the only place that offers this alternative form of burial. By the way, the grapevine is of great symbolic significance in Christendom and Judaism: It represents the Tree of life.
  • Outer space burial: It is also possible to transport the ashes of the deceased into space with a rocket and allow it to subsequently float in space – fusing the finite and infinite nature of our being forever.
  • Diamond burial: A diamond or gemstone burial is defined by the process of converting a portion of the ashes (or hair) of the deceased into a precious stone. We at Mevisto have been devoting ourselves to this emotional and one-of-a-kind form of burial. The advantage: There is no need for a physical memorial site that you would have to travel to and care for – instead, you are carrying your loved one on your person at all times. To make this happen, we need only a small portion of the ashes / a small number of hairs so that you will still be able to opt for another type of cremation burial if you choose to do so. 

Forms of burial – determined by the culture

The burial culture is evolving. Nonetheless, burials are still strongly linked to each specific culture. This is why there are even more alternative forms of burials in other countries. In Switzerland, for instance, it is permitted to place the ashes of the deceased beneath the top layer of firn on a glacier. Our neighboring country furthermore permits aerial burials, also known as in-flight burials. During this type of burial, the ashes are scattered in the air from a plane, helicopter or hot air balloon. Last, but not least, people can also opt for body donation. This means: They donate their body after their death to an anatomic institution for research and educational purposes. However, this decision needs to be made by the donor while they are still alive.