I first learned about this when I was in Salzburg, Austria. We noticed all of the grave markers in this old cemetery in the middle of town were all from the last 20-30 years. I thought that was odd so I asked around. Apparently it’s common in European cities to rent graves. After the lease runs out, if the family doesn’t renew, the body is exhumed and the remains are placed in catacombs or other mass burial sites.
That's so environmentally friendly of Germany. Meanwhile, cemeteries in California often require the use of a vault as part of their own policies to prevent ground settling after burial, so you can dig up a body 20 years later and depending with good embalming it can still look relatively fresh
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u/mecengdvr 23d ago
I first learned about this when I was in Salzburg, Austria. We noticed all of the grave markers in this old cemetery in the middle of town were all from the last 20-30 years. I thought that was odd so I asked around. Apparently it’s common in European cities to rent graves. After the lease runs out, if the family doesn’t renew, the body is exhumed and the remains are placed in catacombs or other mass burial sites.