As of: February 17, 2024, 3:02 p.m
By: Kathrin Hauser
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Nina Böse didn't just come into contact with death as an undertaker.
© Ralf Ruder
In a series we talk to people who are often confronted with death in their jobs.
The undertaker Nina Böse starts things off.
Peißenberg – What comes after death?
Does life continue at all after the end of life?
And how?
These questions have always concerned people of all cultures and religions.
In Christianity, the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter are a time in which the themes of “death” and “resurrection” are dominant.
During Lent, which lasts around six weeks, Christians commemorate the story of Jesus' suffering: the condemnation, the betrayal and the crucifixion.
This is followed by Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
What does this have to do with our lives?
In this series, people who are often confronted with death in their jobs have their say.
It starts with undertaker Nina Böse, who is co-owner of the “Rose” funeral home with branches in Peißenberg, Peiting and Schongau.
When was the last time you thought about death?
Evil: Yesterday when I visited my aunt.
She suffered a massive brain hemorrhage last year and was taken from life.
She survived the cerebral hemorrhage, but has been in a vegetative state ever since.
I wish she can die.
Have you always been an undertaker?
Evil: No, I was a nurse.
I have always been interested in death and have accompanied many dying people and cared for the dead.
After I was on parental leave, I wanted to do something different than before.
I happened to read an advertisement from an undertaker who was looking for staff.
I got in touch – and found the job that was exactly right for me.
My work fulfills me.
“I think there is something after death”: undertaker Nina Böse in an interview
Where does your interest in dying, in death, come from?
Evil: My dad died unexpectedly when I was 13 years old.
That was a decisive experience for me.
He lived in another state and I only found out eight weeks after his death that he was no longer alive.
He was already cremated by then.
I was able to attend the funeral, but I couldn't say goodbye to him.
I think that's why I wanted and want to learn a lot about dying and death.
How did not being able to say goodbye affect you and your grief for your father?
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Evil: I always felt like I was missing an important part that I needed for the grieving process.
Not being able to say goodbye to my dad made it difficult for me to understand his death.
Because this happened to me, one of the first questions I ask the relatives in my work is whether they were able to say goodbye to the deceased.
I encourage the relatives to take another look at the dead person and to touch them too.
If possible, I offer you to help me care for and clothe the deceased.
I think that helps you understand that someone is dead.
I couldn't do that with my dad and I still mourn that today.
Maybe that's why I was so fascinated by death because I wanted to better understand what happened where my dad went.
After her father's death, Böse felt his presence for a long time
What is your idea, does everything end with death?
Evil: No, I think there is something after death.
I don't know exactly what, but I think we're going where our loved ones already are and I'm convinced that my dad and I will see each other again.
How do you come to this conclusion?
Evil: Because I personally experienced things that convinced me of this.
After my dad died, I felt his presence for a long time.
For example, I heard him whisper my name or felt his hand on my shoulder.
He also sent us other signs.
For example, about a clock that always stopped at the same minute.
We didn't know the exact time of death and then interpreted it to mean that it was communicated to us via the clock.
I get told things like this and similar things at work.
What for example?
Evil: For example, I'm told about experiences with animals - that a bird comes into the house or a butterfly sits on the picture of the deceased.
The relatives of the deceased say that their loved ones appear to them in dreams and tell them not to worry, that everything is fine.
These are the things that make me believe there is something after death.
“Death is only the horizon of our vision”
Do you also talk about this in your work?
Evil: Only when people ask me what I think about it.
For me personally, this belief is good.
I don't presume to impose it on others.
I also give eulogies where I talk about it.
I say, for example, that death is only the horizon of our vision.
Then it continues, even if we can't see it directly.
Have you always been convinced that life continues after death?
Böse: No, that was a process for me.
At the beginning you think you're imagining it all.
In my work I sit at the source of such experiences.
Many people talk to me about this and tell me about perceptions that they consider to be fantasies.
That then confirmed me.
Before death comes dying. What does a good death mean to you?
By the way: Everything from the region is also available in our regular Schongau newsletter. And in our Weilheim-Penzberg newsletter.
Evil: A peaceful, quick death, without long suffering or pain.
Is there a book, a piece of music, a poem that has helped you in this context?
Böse: Yes, there is a book that helped me and is helping me.
It's called Tuesdays at Morrie's by Mitch Albom.
It's about a young man who visits an older man who is dying every Tuesday.
The older one gives the younger one a lot of life wisdom.
The local newspapers in the Weilheim-Schongau district are represented on Instagram under “merkur_wm_sog”.