Urns of different sizes and colors are lined up like on supermarket shelves. Coffins in darker and sometimes lighter shades are neatly grouped in front of a booth. At first glance, everything seems sterile and cool at the Pieta funeral fair. But if you take a closer look, it becomes clear how many individual ways there are now to say goodbye to a loved one.
What is the Pieta?
The “Pieta” is a trade fair for undertakers. Suppliers and manufacturers of funeral supplies and technology present their products here every two years. Private persons have no access to the trade fair.
Source: Dresden Trade Fair
At a corner stand, there are several egg-shaped structures that could also be used as table lamps. But they are urns folded out of cardboard, explains Katharina Scheidig. A few years ago, her colleague Kristina created an individual cardboard urn for her deceased father. Then the idea came up to rethink urns. “If you look at it without emotion, an urn is a kind of packaging,” says the entrepreneur.
The urns are made from recycled cardboard, hemp or a mixture of natural fibers and Bavarian meadow grass.
In the past two years, 250 people have been buried in the “Urnfold” company. “The urns are made from recycled cardboard, hemp or a mixture of natural fibers and Bavarian meadow grass,” says Scheidig. She is holding a green cardboard urn in her hand, which still smells slightly of grass and has small pieces of paper in it: “Relatives can write their last wishes for the deceased on these pieces of paper,” explains the 31-year-old.
Ecological with Vogtlandsarg consistent bury
Sylvia Aust-Reichelt notes that the current generational change in the undertaker’s business is accompanied by changes, such as the younger generation being more open to innovative ideas. She is the owner of the company Aust Bestattungsbedarf in Vogtland, which has been making and selling coffins for 33 years. “Coffin culture is also changing, just like furniture. In the past, dark oak tones were popular for both coffins and furniture. Today, the colors are lighter,” explains Aust-Reichelt.
The coffin culture is also changing, similar to furniture. In the past, dark oak tones were popular for both coffins and furniture. Today the colors are lighter.
In addition, it is becoming increasingly important for many to bury their relatives in an ecologically sustainable manner. Aust-Reichelt points to the simple, bright so-called Vogtland coffin: “It’s made from local spruce and is 100 percent biodegradable.”
Explore Friedwald with VR glasses
Suddenly there is a strong smell of forest in the air on the Piera. Mandy Oertel sits on a bench that stands on bark mulch in the middle of the exhibition hall. The Dresden undertaker is particularly enthusiastic about the urns that relatives can design themselves: “The development in undertakers is gigantic.”
So it is possible for undertakers at the trade fair to look at one of the more than 70 Friedwald forests in Germany with virtual reality glasses. According to the provider, the technology should help them to arrange grave decorations appropriately.
Coffin linen with colorful Monet motifs
The exterior design of coffins and grave utensils is now thought differently than a few years ago. Folded hands and crosses can hardly be seen on the urns and coffins in the Messe Dresden. Instead, the urns are shaped as large hearts or flowers, are made of wood, and are covered in brightly colored dyes. “It’s getting more colorful in general,” says Thomas Benkert from Besta Heimberger. According to its own statements, the manufacturer from Geyer in the Ore Mountains is Germany’s largest manufacturer of funeral linen.
It’s getting more colorful in general. Currently, flowers and forest motifs are popular.
A few things have also changed in the coffins. The coffin lining is rarely sewn with lace, and crosses or folded hands on the covers are less and less popular, says Benkert. “Flowers and forest motifs are popular at the moment,” he says, pointing to coffin linen that is reminiscent of Claude Monet’s painting style.
Undertakers seek inspiration
Several hearses are parked in a large open space in the middle of the exhibition hall. Climate protection has also reached the funeral sector, because many of the hearses have electric or hybrid motors. Frank Oberüber looks into one of the long, illuminated cars. The undertaker from Dresden is regularly at trade fairs for undertakers, of which there are five in Germany the size of the Pieta. “We’re here for inspiration. It’s never a purposeful shopping spree,” he says.
Last trip in Motorrad or fire truck
Nearby, a woman looks at a black motorcycle with an urn in its sidecar. On a video screen, she sees the motorbike driving through a green landscape. “I wouldn’t offer that. People are still too reserved there,” says the undertaker.
We’ve had funerals where 300 motorcycles have followed the deceased.
The motorcycle burials are already in demand from Berlin to Dresden, says Justin Bartsch from the Cottbus-based company Blackfinity. For a year and a half it has been possible to book a funeral motorcycle with a driver who accompanies the deceased on his last motorized trip to the cemetery.
The offer is particularly popular with motorcyclists: “We’ve had funerals where 300 motorcycles drove behind the deceased.” According to Bartsch, the company also offers the only fire engine in Germany that is approved as a hearse.