Profession undertaker: "I try to suppress the subject of death for myself"

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Everyday funeral home: Sensitive handling of the dead and bereaved

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»I came into this profession as a career changer.

I originally trained as a locksmith, then I was unemployed - and a good friend put me in the funeral home of friends.

I was in my late twenties at the time. I have learned a lot since then and have done a lot of advanced training at the Undertaker Association.

Today I am 53 years old and I have had my own company in Dresden for almost 20 years.

You don't necessarily need an undertaker's training to be able to set up an institute, but the corresponding advanced training.

The work is a matter of type.

I never minded working with the deceased, but we always have interns who realize that they just can't do it.

That's okay - the job is then just nothing for them.

At the moment it is even more difficult than usual to get employees.

There is a lot to do here: We have had significantly more deaths since October and November.

The storage options are a huge problem.

We have our own cold store where we keep the deceased, but that's no longer enough.

The city had to create new storage facilities.

In the cold rooms several deceased lie in the coffins in individual compartments.

It's about four to six degrees cold there, so the bodies don't change at first.

"We are not allowed to prepare corona deceased"

At the moment I am urgently looking for two employees who will organize the funeral services that pick up and transfer the deceased and prepare them respectfully.

We wash them and put them on the clothes we get from the bereaved - and also a diaper if any body fluids leak out.

The fact that it is so difficult to find people is clearly due to Corona.

Many are afraid of becoming infected, but we protect ourselves well with full body suits, eye protection, face masks, disinfection - and we are not even allowed to prepare corona deceased, they are put in the body bags when they are picked up after the first examination and stay in the crematorium until the second examination shortly before cremation in it.

If someone dies with or from Corona, it is very difficult for the bereaved.

In order to cope with grief, it is very important to be able to say goodbye, and that is simply not possible.

Often relatives cannot be present at the hospital, and when the person dies, they are simply gone without being able to see or touch them again.

At the funeral we can only put up a photo, not an open coffin.

Most of the bereaved understand this.

Our work has not changed very much due to Corona, apart from the higher workload;

Self-protection has always been important, now there are a few additional hygiene rules, but we have experience with that.

Due to the many deaths, there are longer waiting times before the funeral.

"We advise everyone to create a precautionary folder"

It might sound strange, but what I love most about my job is the inner satisfaction: When you have the end of work, you know you've helped families.

You see them several times and have very intensive conversations, and you build a bond.

Everyone is unique and it is difficult for any family to lose someone.

Picking up deceased people who have had accidents is not an easy matter.

A few years ago we had someone who died in a motorcycle accident.

His partner and mother wanted to say goodbye, but the body was completely destroyed.

That was very close to me.

We took a burgundy silk scarf and cut it open so that only the left hand was visible.

She was unharmed, so the two women could touch him again.

That helped them a lot.

We often have children's burials too.

The siblings can paint and glue the coffin - the parents can do that together with them at home.

Parents can also dress their child themselves and lay them to rest in the coffin.

We often hear years later from these people how much it helped them to cope with their grief, that they could do something themselves.

"I don't believe in life after death"

Most of the dead are cremated.

The trend towards anonymous burials continues to grow, and for many families there are simple financial reasons for this: The cemetery costs for their own grave site have become immensely high, and many simply cannot or do not want to afford it.

Fear of death?

No, I don't actually have that.

At most not before that I can't see my children grow up - we live in a blended family and have five children, a son has been with me for four years.

I don't believe in life after death.

We actually advise everyone to create a precautionary folder in order to relieve the bereaved, and also to record in it how one would like to be buried.

To be honest, I haven't done that yet - I'm trying to ignore the topic for myself. "

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