My cousin died during the Cold War. When we were visiting over there, where he was buried and where his father and other relatives were buried, there was a blank spot. It was explained to us they paid for a certain period of time and if they did not continue to pay, the markers and bones were removed. So a blank spot. It was our understanding this is how they did it. There were some stones from 200 years ago, and we were never able to understand how they remained. A little language barrier. Judy -----Original Message----- From: Ursula <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thu, Jan 21, 2010 7:59 am Subject: Re: [G-P-L] Burial practices Hello Betty, your chances of finding any grave/tombstone prior to 1900 are practically zero, nless they were nobility. Your chances of finding any grave prior to 1960 [yes, 1960!] are slim unless the illage had less than 100 inhabitants. f course there are always exceptions; since Herda was once part of the GDR, here may be some markers left. My father died in 1964 in a village with a pop. 2,000 and his grave marker was emoved 20 years ago. My mother, on the other hand, who died in 1985 in a village with a pop. of less han 100, her marker is still there, so are the markers of her parents who died n the 1940s. You must remember that they don't use concrete vaults in Germany, the deceased re not embalmed and are buried in wooden coffins so after 20-30 years there is irtually no remains left - other than bones -. Nowadays people are almost xclusively cremated and only their names and dates are etched into tall olumns, along with other persons names who died at the same time period. Ursula ____________________________________________________ here'll come a time, when you'll have no more time. ----- Original Message ----- rom: "BF" <[email protected]> o: [email protected] ent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 8:21:51 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern ubject: [G-P-L] Burial practices What were the 19th century burial practices in Germany? I suppose they were uried in the church cemetery. Did they have long-lasting markers such as we ave? My family lived in a small town, Herda, Thuringen and were poor. Any hance of finding a marker from 1850-1900 if such things existed? I read that some country had plots leased for 100 yrs, then they were reused but on't remember if that was Germany. Betty L For all the latest News, please visit our Homepage: http://www.germanyroots.com Please visit and participate in our new forum ttp://www.germanyroots.com/phpBB3/ ------------------------------ o unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] ith the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of he message or all the latest News, please visit our Homepage: http://www.germanyroots.com Please visit and participate in our new forum ttp://www.germanyroots.com/phpBB3/ ------------------------------ o unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] ith the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of he message