Since I had a few queries about my forwarding this post, I decided to send the follow-up message from the writer. ----- Original Message ----- From: <Jlktrees@aol.com> To: <OHBELMON-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 03, 1999 9:00 PM Subject: [OHBELMON-L] German burial policies > First an apology. I type very fast and typed my name wrong, and then used > auto spell check and since I also don't see as well as I used to I > accidentally let my letter go out under the name of Julienne. Wrong it is > Jerilyn Sorry > > I have been very fortunate these past 19-15 years to travel a lot of the > world and as I am very interested in the people and their customs I see more > than just scenery. I do do the scenery bits, but love the old churches, > buildings, museums. I am astounded at how many poor serfs must have died > building the tall churches of Europe. > > This turned out to be very long so if you want - just delete me and go on. > > Several questions came my way about the cemetery policies in Europe. > > 1. I do not know if they dig the bones up or if they are gone at the end of > the time but will find out. Probably depends on the amount of time you > rented your space. > 2. I am assuming the rental time starts at the time you purchase the lot. > Hadn't really given it any thought before, but that would make sense. I am > sure that if the family keeps renting the space they just go on top of each > other. > 3. One answer said that in England they consider embalming barbaric so they > probably don't do it. Particularly today as very environment conscious and > that would be putting chemicals in the soil. > 4. Other answers brought out the way of the Indians who built pyres and > burned their ancestors. Some Indian Tribes put them on the platform in the > air and left them. When an Eskimo outlived their usefulness to the > community, they just went into the wilderness to die. > 5 One answer talked about being in Dublin where they were buried in the dry > catacomb and have turned all leatherly. These were the priests and Nuns. I > have seen the following in a church in Germany and one in Switzerland for the > burial of Saints. They are buried in glass coffins which are kept at the > front of the church. They are in their good clothes and are leaned as if on > their side and using one arm to hold their head up. This is really odd. The > clothes are rotting, but the bones are still OK. I had seen this years ago, > but couldn't remember where and we found it again. These were both in > Benedictine Monasteries, but I am sure that is not exclusive to them. > > Will continue with some of our experiences. You have to understand that I > have no fear of cemeteries nor have I ever had. In the small towns you visit > them often and never forget them on Memorial Day. Our family probably put > flowers on 3/4 of the graves every year. My mother, age 82, is still doing > it. If we knew the families were too far away or no descendants left to > remember the older ones, my mother takes care of it. Plants peonies, iris, > etc. Out in western Kansas we don't have as much rain as the East so can't > do a lot, but what she can. > > When I first started this obsession (one of love but an obsession anyway), I > used to visit many cemeteries and when the children were young, they were all > given the names I needed and on vacations which I carefully scheduled to > travel through areas that I needed information from, the four would fan out > and yell when they found a name I needed. It is a joke in the family now. > > I have always had a fascination with the topic as well as medieval history > and thus types of torture used by our ancestors. A large paper in high > school convinced me that man was not always nice to another man. I am such a > softy I can't kill a bug and that is probably why my fascination. Anyway, > that might be why I do visit some of the places I do. Now for the travels. > > In Germany there is not a funeral in a church. They have chapels, I guess > you call them that, in each cemetery and it is from there the service is > held. No following a hearse, etc. I don't know where that came from. They > are buried very soon and as I said in a white shroud. > > Czechoslovakia was about the same except that I found so many tombstones that > had pictures of the deceased on them. I have also seen this at the Czech > cemeteries in this country. I find this really great. A lot of the > cemeteries in Czechoslovakia had a big stone and were usually covered totally > with a large granite slab. Then there were sitting on the slab several small > urn types for those who were cremated - again with pictures. We were hunting > my husbands families roots at the time and was amazing to find the town they > came from that had 9 houses in the 1870's still has 9 houses. As I > understand it, they are quite dull on the outside but very nice on the inside > - this was to prevent things being taken away during the Communist Regime. > When we found his family tombstone it was labeled the family of KOSKAN. Now > there were also KOSTKAN's in the same cemetery. Seems some were Catholic and > some were Protestant -not sure which, but think KOSKAN were the Protestants. > Still working on that. > > In Rome we took a tour of the Catacombs. I saw not a single bone so asked > how can this be the Catacombs with no bones. This was my answer. Many ha > been robbed through the years and what was left was not on the tour any more > as they had too many people feint. Consequently I got another tour to see > how it was done. > > Paris- When Napoleon rebuilt the city he had to dig up many many cemeteries. > He left a beautiful city. At least he didn't build over them. All the bones > from each cemetery was kept together and put in the Catacombs under the city > and each labeled as to what cemetery they came from and years of use and > anything else they might know. How they arranged the bones you can read in > the Czech section of this dissertation - guess I had better call it that. > > The last time I was in Paris I decided to tour the Catacombs. Husband was in > meetings all day so I went to the entrance, stood in line (yes it is a big > tourist attraction) and paid my money and went down. I am expecting a short > little trip. Three hours later I came up far away. They wind all over under > the city and I have no idea where I was. Many, many of the tunnels are > closed off. Thank God, you would never get back. During World War II, the > French Resistance used the Catacombs for their headquarters with no problems. > The Germans and others were afraid to go down there in the dark with all the > bones.(So they say) > > In Prague we visited a very very old Jewish cemetery. Here they also were > burying one on top of the other. What was interesting is that when they dig > for the next person they remove the headstone, bury the new person, put the > old headstone back on and add a new headstone. Some of the graves had 7 or 8 > headstones. As you know Judaism does not allow cremation-at least that is > what I understand. > > Now the next description does get macabre so if you have a weak stomach - > quit reading. > > I said I would get back to the bone churches. Originally, the bones were all > dug up and piled in the crypts of the churches to make way for new graves. A > lot of these were the result of the Plague many many years ago. At the one I > visited, someone had taken the time to make all sorts of church objects out > of the bones. To say it was weird is putting it mildly. One Monstrance > (forgot how to spell it) was made using every bone in the human body. The > chandelier was made from bones. You would have to have seen it to believe > it. No pictures, but I bought postcards. What bones were left were piled > very nearly in arches along the sides. Large leg bones all stacked neatly > like logs with the skulls sitting on top and all the rest of the extra bones > piled behind.. As I said before I know of two Czechoslovakia and one in > Italy but there may be more. > > One more part of the world and I will quit. As you know the Orient has a bad > population problem and woman are not allowed to choose how many children they > can have in many of the countries. I didn't get into the burial in China > other than the Emperors, but in Japan we visited the oddest garden - very > sad. There was a shrine covered with probably 5 to 6 hundred small dolls (10 > to 15 inches tall). Each doll represented a dead baby, either from abortion > or still birth. The numbers were overwhelming and then we were told that > they only stay one month and are replaced. This was only for this area of > Japan. How sad, but their way of remembering their lost ones. > > Sorry to end on such a sad note. Travel is fun and like one of the > responders to my first missive, it is through the customs of the people and > meeting those of other countries that we can perhaps make this a more > peaceful country. I have found that wherever I go, people have the same > wants for their families. Their customs are different and they go at it a > different way, but each wants what is best for their children and none want > war or killing. This drive for power causes such disorder in life. We > hosted exchange students for 15 years and what a blessing. How can you go to > war when you have friends in the country you are supposed to be mad at? > > OK back to chasing the elusive ancestor. Hope you enjoyed the discourse and > I am ready to hit the court houses again. > > Jerilyn Koskan > Orland Park, Illinois > >