Holziken
Despite strict rules: Positive assessment of the newly renovated cemetery
In the summer, the cemetery in Holziken was renovated after more than 45 years. At the same time, new regulations were introduced that clearly define the design of communal graves.
With the renovation, new burial and cemetery regulations were introduced for the Holziker Cemetery this summer.
Image: Laura Koller
The newly renovated Holziker Cemetery was inaugurated at the end of May. The work was overdue, as the facility was last comprehensively renovated in 1978. The renovation caused discussions in advance, and at Winter-Gmeind 2021 the commitment loan for the work was sent down stream. The population wanted to be involved in the project and not just accept the loan. Holziken then set up a working group, and the following year the sovereign clearly accepted the loan and thereby approved the project.
The renovation could start in autumn 2023, and the facility has had a fresh look since this summer. A forest cemetery and a memorial and burial site for angel children are now also part of the community cemetery. At the beginning of August, the new burial and cemetery regulations, which the municipality had revised as part of the renovation, came into force.
And while the newly designed cemetery is intended to invite people to linger, strict rules apply to the facility according to the regulations. For example, for the discounts at the community urn grave and the forest cemetery. According to the new regulations, flowers, wreaths, bowls and the like can only be deposited there up to three weeks after a funeral.
Rules for a “presentable appearance”
In the summer, Holziken reminded of this new regulation in the community news and informed that artificial objects such as angel bodies were no longer permitted on the slabs at the community grave and the forest cemetery. “Withered flowers, wreaths and plants as well as weathered, inappropriate or broken objects and vessels throughout the cemetery will be removed,” wrote the municipality, which authorized the cemetery gardener to carry out the relevant tasks.
Jagged tidying up and only limited space for personal items and memorabilia – how is that received by the Holziker population? “From the community’s perspective, the new burial and cemetery regulations have become very well established,” informs community clerk Marco Bieri when asked by AZ. Most of the artificial objects were removed by the population themselves; the cemetery gardener took care of a few pieces. “These will be kept for a limited time and some have already been picked up in the meantime,” says Bieri.
The community received exclusively positive feedback from the population, reports the community clerk. The new regulations are being taken into account very well by the population, and this contributes to the attractive appearance of the cemetery complex.
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