Czech undertakers embraceGerman ‘funeral tourism’

26 April 2004

PRAGUE – Elderly Germans looking for low-cost farewells are have begun opting for a trip to the Czech Republic to arrange a budget departure from the material world.

The Prague financial newspaper Hospodarske noviny on Monday cited a popular crematorium and graveyard in a northern Czech village as an example of a “funeral tourism” trend among Germans.

Every month the bodies of about 50 deceased Germans are brought to the facility in Hrusovany from the Berolina funeral home in Berlin, the report said.

By agreeing to rest in peace in the Czech Republic, Berolina clients get about one-third off the average EUR 1,500 euro for a budget funeral.

One reason for the lower price is that pollution standards for Czech crematoriums are more relaxed than in Germany. But the report said Czech coffins and other funeral costs are lower than in Germany or even Poland.

Last week, the Berlin funeral home brought a busload of elderly German clients to check out the Hrusovany facility.

Berolina’s director Hartmut Woite said Czech funeral costs for Germans may decline after this week’s European Union enlargement because the deceased will no longer need special passports to transit the Czech-German border.