Burial at sea
A burial at sea is the burial of the body or ashes of a deceased person at sea.
Burial of people who died at sea
Until the early 20th century, almost all of the people buried at sea were those who died on board and for whom a burial of the body on land seemed impractical. Disease protection reasons also played a role. Historical examples are the burials at sea by Sir Francis Drake and James Cook . After sea battles , the dead were often handed over to the sea, and corpses of victims of ship accidents (such as the sinking of the RMS Titanic ) found at sea were also buried in this way. In individual cases, the coffins of seafarers who died on land were - and still are - handed over to the sea, which is considered an honorable form of burial, especially for members of the Navy , and is carried out with appropriate military ceremonies.
Burial at sea as an alternative to cemetery burial
With the increased emergence of cremation since the beginning of the 20th century, the function of sea burial changed fundamentally, since this form of burial was now accessible to wider circles of the population and lost its character as an emergency burial for those who died at sea . The burial of the remains of a previously cremated deceased in the sea developed into an alternative to coffin or urn burial in a cemetery .
Legal situation in Germany
In Germany it has been possible since 1934 to have a burial at sea instead of a cemetery burial. For this purpose, the ashes are usually handed over to the sea in a special sea urn in the area of the coastal sea (specially marked sea areas on sea maps ) over “rough ground” according to seafaring customs. The captain speaks the funeral speech . “Rough ground” means areas where there is no fishing or water sports. There are possibilities in almost every sea, from Germany mainly in the North and Baltic Seas , also in the Atlantic or the Mediterranean .
Requirements for a burial at sea
A burial at sea must be officially approved in some German federal states. For this it is often necessary that the deceased was connected to the sea in a special way. This can be a previous occupation as a seafarer or a deep spiritual connection to the sea. In general, a declaration by the relatives to the responsible official bodies is sufficient. In order to prove the wish beyond doubt, a funeral decree should be deposited during lifetime , from which the will of the deceased is later clearly recognizable and confirmed by at least one other person.
In order not to endanger shipping and bathers on the beaches of the sea, strict rules apply to burial at sea. The water and shipping authorities have advertised permanent positions for the Seefriedhof in their areas of responsibility. Ships that carry out burial trips sail under the German flag on German trips. Further strict requirements apply. The urn must be made of completely dissolvable material, for example anhydrite , tonolite , halite or paper mache , which meets the requirements of the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency . At the same time, it must be weighed down with gravel, sand or water so that it sinks quickly and prevents it from floating up. The relatives can put flowers on the water, but for environmental reasons we do not use containers or wreaths. The fixed position of the urn burial in the sea is recorded in a logbook entry, which can also be presented to the water and shipping authorities. For burials at sea, funeral homes and ship operators also need a permit under water and maritime law.
Procedure for a burial at sea today
A usual memorial service followed by cremation takes place at the home of the deceased . The undertaker usually transfers or sends the crematorium urn to a funeral shipping company by parcel service . There the ashes are poured into a burial urn made of dissolvable material. The relatives have the choice whether they want to attend the burial of the urn at sea or not. If relatives participate, the process is called “accompanied burial at sea”, otherwise it is called “silent burial at sea”. In the case of a silent burial at sea, several urns are handed over to the sea during a funeral trip. If the relatives take part, only the urn of the deceased whose relatives are on board is taken at sea and the captain and crew perform the burial in naval uniform as a token of appreciation for the deceased. Raising the flag, background music (national anthem or funeral music) and blowing the boatswain's whistle are often accompanying rituals. After a short speech, the urn is handed over to the sea on a rope (ship rope). Since the handing over of wreaths with bows and flower arrangements is not allowed, individual flowers or petals are usually sprinkled on the sea grave as a final greeting. A small wreath made according to special specifications by the florist can be used to mark the sea grave while the ship makes a lap of honor around the sea grave and says goodbye to the burial position with three beeps.
Coping with grief
Some bereaved relatives miss the grave as a local reference point. Proponents of burial at sea see water as an omnipresent and always accessible medium that allows the bereaved to deal with mourning and remembrance everywhere . Therefore, the following funeral journeys take place to the burial places in the North and Baltic Seas. In many places there are memorials on land, such as in Lübeck-Travemünde on Brodtener Ufer or in Wilhelmshaven with the "Seefrieden Memorial Site" on Rüstringer Berg, and collective commemorations also take place, for example, at the naval memorial in Laboe . Some funeral shipping companies offer trips to the coordinates of a previous burial at sea, usually after prior notification, where there is an opportunity for prayer on site.
Economic aspects
The cost of a burial at sea cannot be precisely determined in advance because many factors play a role. With reputable providers, silent (anonymous) funerals cost 1000 to 3000 euros and with a complete funeral service and journey 1450 to 4500 euros. Compared to conventional burials, a sea burial has the following advantages: There is no grave that needs to be cared for, and the total cost of such a burial is lower than for a conventional burial in a cemetery, as there are no mooring fees and no costs for grave maintenance. In addition, an inexpensive cremation coffin can be used for cremation. As a variant of social burial, sea burial was not accepted in Germany until a few years ago. The municipalities or competent authorities have always relied on the exact wording of the regulatory § 74 SGB XII , which only described a burial. That has changed with the changes in the respective state funeral laws and a change in thinking.
Ecological aspects
The ash is germ-free and is deposited as a small pile on the sediment on the sea floor. It is wrong to believe that the ashes are completely distributed in the water. The urn is made of perishable material and does not pollute the environment, but it only dissolves after hours when it is already on the seabed with the ashes. Over time, sands cover the ashes, creating a burial site on the ocean floor. Resources are conserved on land, as no land is required for a resting place in the cemetery.
People buried at sea
Burial at sea is often chosen by seafarers and ship crews, another group of people feels connected to the sea for various reasons or chooses this form as an ecological variant. Politically problematic people are occasionally buried at sea in order to avoid the creation of pilgrimage sites among their supporters.
- Neil Armstrong (1930–2012) (ashes buried in the Atlantic)
- Osama bin Laden (1957-2011) (The body was given over to the sea within 24 hours of death)
- John Carradine (1906–1988) (The body was buried by his family in the Indian Ocean)
- Georg Danzer (1946–2007) (ashes were buried off Mallorca in the Mediterranean)
- Francis Drake (1540–1596) (The body was sunk in a lead coffin off the coast of Panama)
- Adolf Eichmann (1906–1962) (After the execution, the ashes were scattered over the Mediterranean in an unspecified area)
- Rudolf Heß (1894–1987) (burial at sea 2011 after the grave was dissolved)
- Edmund Hillary (1919-2008) (ashes were buried in the Hauraki Gulf off New Zealand )
- Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980) (ashes were buried in the Pacific)
- Rock Hudson (1925-1985)
- Janis Joplin (1943-1970)
- DeForest Kelley (1920–1999) (ashes were buried in the Pacific)
- John F. Kennedy, Jr. (1960–1999) (ashes were buried outside Martha's Vineyard , the Kennedy's country home, in the Atlantic)
- Klaus Kinski (1926–1991)
- Werner Klemperer (1920-2000)
- Peter Lustig (1937-2016)
- Steve McQueen (1930-1980)
- Robert Mitchum (1917–1997)
- Ángel Nieto (1947-2017) (ashes were buried off Ibiza in the Mediterranean)
- Erik Ode (1910-1983)
- Vincent Price (1911-1993)
- Alexander Selkirk (1676–1721), Scottish navigator and adventurer, historical role model for Robinson Crusoe
- Hans Söhnker (1903–1981) (ashes were buried in the Baltic Sea)
- HG Wells (1866–1946) (ashes were buried off the coast of England)
- Auwa Thiemann (1950–2014) (ashes were buried in the Baltic Sea)
- Robin Williams (1951–2014) (burial in San Francisco Bay )
- Dennis Wilson (1944-1983)
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Michael Paul Pludra: The Seebestattungsrecht of the Federal Republic of Germany . Frankfurt / Main 2011, p. 36
- ↑ Undertaker weblog: Burial at sea
- ↑ a b Jörg Nielsen: A stopping point in endlessness , Nordwest-Zeitung , January 5, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
- ^ "Seefrieden": Place of Remembrance , Nordwest-Zeitung, August 24, 2011. Accessed January 5, 2017.
- ↑ Terror chief: corpse buried at sea , Focus from May 2, 2011, accessed on April 27, 2019
- ^ Burial at sea for Al-Qaida leaders , Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 3, 2011, accessed on April 27, 2019
- ↑ a b Burial at sea for Hitler's deputy: Heß-Grab leveled , n-tv from July 21, 2011, accessed on April 27, 2019
- ↑ a b Grass should grow over Rudolf Hess's grave , Tagesspiegel from July 21, 2011, accessed on April 27, 2019