Aerial burial
As air funeral the one hand burial of a body high denoted above the ground, on the other hand, the scattering of the ashes of the deceased from an aircraft .
Traditional aerial burial
In an aerial burial in the traditional or ethnographic sense, the corpses are buried more or less high above the ground in the open air and there - in whole or in parts, not decomposed or partially decomposed - left for scavengers . Sometimes the corpses are also wrapped or protected from being eaten in tree coffins .
This type of aerial burial is common in many regions of the world, but it is rarely practiced any more. Well-known forms are celestial burials in Tibet and Mongolia, burials in so-called “ Towers of Silence ” in Persia, or tree and scaffold burials among North American Indians and in eastern Indonesia.
Modern air burial
In Europe since the 1990s, the term “aerial burial” has been understood to mean scattering the ashes of a deceased person from a hot air balloon , a helicopter or an airplane . After the previously necessary cremation , the ashes are scattered (in the air space). The relatives can attend the ceremony. You will then receive a certificate with the exact coordinates of the place of distribution. This type of aerial burial is permitted in some European countries, for example in France, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. The German Funeral Act prohibits aerial burial, as cemetery is mandatory in Germany. The only exception is the scattering of the ashes over certain areas of the Baltic and North Sea.
The number of participants in the ceremony is limited - depending on the capacity of the chosen aircraft. In a hot air balloon, for example, only about three people can be taken along.
In Switzerland , the ashes of a deceased person can be attached to a weather balloon in specially designed capsules and transported to a height of 30 kilometers. There the capsule opens and scatters the ashes in the sky. A camera records the ascent and the ceremony and arrives back to earth on a parachute . Such an aerial burial can cost up to 9,000 euros with participation of 20 people and complete documentation.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Max Schmidt : Ethnology. Ullstein, Berlin 1924.
- ^ Theo Körner: Cult of the dead and belief in life among the peoples of East Indonesia. Jordan & Gramberg, Leipzig 1936.
- ↑ a b c Burial types: aerial burial
- ↑ Low emissions on the last journey. In: VDI Nachrichten, January 18, 2013, page 3.