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Every corpse must be buried. Regardless of whether it is buried in the ground, in a cremation, at sea or in a forest.

In Germany, funerals are generally carried out by funeral directors, commonly known as morticians. You can choose between different types of funeral. Depending on the region, you can choose between

• Burial in the ground
• Cremation (forest burial, burial at sea, urn burial)
• Anonymous burial

A burial is possible at the earliest 48 hours after the death. Exceptions can be made by the responsible health authority for good cause. Bodies should be buried or cremated within 8 days of the death. Urns should be buried within one month of cremation. With the exception of burial at sea, all burials are subject to statutory cemetery requirements.

The following are obliged to be buried in this order

• Spouse or registered partner,
• Descendants (children, grandchildren),
• Ancestors (parents, grandparents),
• siblings.

If there are no persons liable for burial (relatives)

• do not exist,
• cannot be determined,
• cannot be found.

or

• they do not fulfill their obligation or do not fulfill it in time

and

• no one else arranges the burial,

the local regulatory authority responsible for the place of death or discovery must arrange the burial.

For the funeral

• Death certificate or notification of death

In the case of an urn burial

• Certificate of the second official post-mortem examination prior to cremation

There are fees for

• the issue of the death certificate,
• the issuing of the burial permit,
• other necessary official acts,
• issuing a corpse passport

If the next of kin do not arrange for the burial of a deceased person, the burial will be arranged by the responsible local regulatory authority and the persons responsible for the burial will be jointly and severally liable for the costs incurred.

If the relatives are not in a position to bear the funeral costs and the estate of the deceased is also insufficient, they can apply to the relevant social welfare office to have the costs covered.

• Bodies and ashes of deceased persons must be buried.
• The post-mortem examination must be arranged by persons from the household of the deceased person, the person in whose household or institution or on whose property the death occurred and any person who finds a body or in whose presence a person dies, or the police must be informed.
• Registered doctors and doctors working in emergency and rescue services must carry out the post-mortem examination and issue the death certificate. This also applies to doctors in hospitals and similar facilities for the deceased. Official physicians of the competent lower health authority are to be consulted secondarily.
• Burial/cremation should take place within 8 days.

Please contact

• a doctor to carry out the post-mortem examination and issue a death certificate,
• to the competent lower health authority (public health officer) for a second post-mortem examination due to cremation,
• to the competent registry office for the issue of the death certificate,
• for the burial to the cemetery administration of the place where the burial is to take place,
• for the transfer from the place of death/cremation to the cemetery/crematorium to a funeral home.