RHEINHESSEN – These are highly sensitive moments of particular importance that reverberate for a long time and are experienced intensively. Due to the Corona crisis, special regulations also apply to funerals. They can only take place in the “closest family”. Some municipalities have specified the regulation. A maximum of five mourners are permitted in Mainz and ten in the Mainz-Bingen district. In Mainz, Ingelheim, and Alzey, people largely adhere to the guidelines.
“The chapels are also closed,” says the Ingelheim undertaker Jens Blumler, “as long as the weather is fine, you can decorate the areas in front of them. No relatives have complained so far, understanding is there. ”Shoveling for throwing the earth, carrying the urn by relatives – many rituals are currently taboo for reasons of corona prevention. Sometimes, says Blumler’s Mainz colleague Jorg Wiedenmann (Novis funerals), there are a little more mourners than allowed, but then at a safe distance.
“People are reasonable, informed and mostly very insightful. It’s sad, but that’s the rule, ”says Wiedenmann. “It is difficult for families because they need neighbors and friends who have to stay away now,” says Alzeyer undertaker Paul Sulfrian Senior, “but people are sensitized. Fortunately, nobody had to be sent away yet. However, the public order office is not there and counts. ”A lot, it is said in the Mainz-Bingen district, must currently be based on reason.
Usually, the usual dates are omitted from the funeral notices. “There is no longer any open laying out,” reports Sulfrian. Every now and then, urn burials would be postponed in the hope that a regular funeral would be possible again soon. At Jens Blumler there was the peculiarity of a funeral service broadcast live via Skype a few years ago because a close relative could not travel from Australia. But that remained the exception. “We recommend that friends and relatives be told the date of the funeral,” says Sulfrian, “then they can light a candle at home or express their grief in other ways and show sympathy.”
It is also possible to go to the grave later, as the cemeteries themselves remain open. In some municipalities, burials are only permitted without guests. “I find that too rigid,” emphasizes Wiedenmann. One cannot take away the closest relatives from saying goodbye. “It is also a way of coping with grief.” Either way, it is a difficult time for the mourners who do not belong to the narrowest circle. “The sympathy expressed by accompanying the deceased is missing. We try to deal with this in advance through discussions, ”says Sulfrian.
The corona pandemic is also a special challenge for the undertaker. It is feared that at some point they will have to bury the first deceased person with the virus. According to Blumler, there is current information from the undertaker association, Sulfrian also says, from the Robert Koch Institute. In the Mainz-Bingen district, reference is made to the provisions on disease protection in the State Funeral Act. The bodies must therefore be disinfected and coffed immediately. “We are always careful anyway, and if we know it, we will be even more careful,” says Blumler.
“The virus stays in the body for a while. If we move a corpse, which we have to do, droplets can escape from the lungs. Therefore, we will put a mask or at least a cloth on the deceased, ”explains Blumler. “If a deceased person is moved, viruses can emerge from the mouth again,” explains Sulfrian, “the coronavirus settles in the throat. You have to work with a mask and safety glasses. We use gloves anyway. “
