REMODELING: More flowers, less gravel: Mammern’s last place of rest is transformed into a friendly garden cemetery

Construction work on the Mammern cemetery will start on March 1st. The local council also meets an increasing need, tears down the urn wall and relies on a communal grave. The relatives of the deceased no longer have to look after the grave.

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Big plans for a peaceful place: «The local council will decide on the award of the work at the next meeting. The start of the work is planned for March 1st », says councilor Erika Siegwart. She is responsible for the cemetery in Mammern. The work should be done shortly before Easter – around April 1st. The councilor adds:

“Depending on the state of the pandemic protection measures of the federal government, a small aperitif will then take place with craftsmen, the local council and members of the cemetery commission.”

Mammerns Friedhof, in a prominent location between the Catholic Church and the Mammern Castle Clinic, is being transformed into a garden cemetery. Saying goodbye and staying in the cemetery as a place of rest and encounter is accompanied by a pleasant overall impression, emphasizes Erika Siegwart and explains the innovations.

Preparatory work by the local cemetery commission

The loan of 107,000 francs was approved by voters on November 18th. In the meantime the cemetery commission met twice more. It was determined which craftsmen should be asked for an offer. “The offers from the craftsmen have now been received and the cemetery commission has made a preselection, which is now being prepared for the attention of the municipal council,” said Siegwart, beaming:

“The costs offered are around 8,000 francs below the cost estimate.”

However, she admits that unexpected costs could still arise during the construction phase.

What are the thoughts behind the redesign? «The urn wall is in need of renovation, it shows cracks. The cemetery commission then discussed whether the urn wall is still needed today. So-called community graves have been set up in many cemeteries in recent years, including us in Mammern during the first stage of the cemetery redesign. In our opinion, the common grave serves the same purpose. Namely the burial of urns with a name plaque, ”says Erika Siegwart. In this way, relatives would be relieved of the obligation to look after a grave. The community grave is maintained by the community. The current urn wall was repeatedly judged to be too sparse and unkind.

After March 1st, abandoned gravestones are removed

The grave rest in Mammern is limited to 20 years. The graves and the urn wall will be cleared from March 1st. The relatives of the deceased between 1993 and 1999 were informed in writing and almost all of them came forward. Most either took the urn home or had it buried in the communal grave. Some of the graves have already been cleared by the relatives. After March 1st, abandoned gravestones and jewelry are properly disposed of by the workshop employees in cooperation with the builder.

In order to achieve the goal of the garden cemetery as soon as possible, a lot of green work is planned. So the planting of four trees in the middle of the area, and more lawns and beds will be created. In order to create more light, the two 70-year-old fir trees between the cemetery and the rectory were removed. “Our cemetery, which currently has around 65 graves, should simply appear friendlier, and this can certainly be achieved with more lawn and flowers instead of gravel and stone,” emphasizes Siegwart. The graves are aligned so that the names face the sidewalk and are easier to read. It is noticeable that there are many gravestones of high artistic stone carving quality in this cemetery.

From the entrance to the cemetery, the walkway leads straight to the historic cemetery building.

“This is refreshed so that urns can also be laid out there.”

This is how Siegwart describes the upgrade. Attentive visitors will have noticed that there are also stylish garden chairs in the cemetery area.