GREENSPRINGS ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Journey Journal... Newfield, New York

A DECIMAL FESTIVAL... From Square One To Compound Interest

On a sun-drenched and auspicious September day, conviviality was particularly apparent at the Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve.  Human spirits were flourishing here amid pastures of bodily extinction.  Living souls were fully engaged in activities, fueled by the horsepower of concerted efforts.  Evidence of collegial harmony uniting a bevy of workers and participants prevailed.  One of the original founders of the cemetery was first spotted in an orange safety vest, helping a cohort direct newcomers to parking spaces.  

A celebration was underway to mark the tenth anniversary of the burial property’s founding.  The occasion brought together the visionaries who had launched this ecological initiative along with supporters and community folks interesting in learning more about a green, yet golden, opportunity.  

A tent served as central headquarters for a program of activities.  

Under its canopy were a microphone delineating a presentation corner, tables bearing light refreshments, and a beverage bar where an attendant served wine, beer, cider, and soda. 

Guests could park themselves either on folding chairs or atop ancillary bales of hay.   

Amid platters of fruits, veggies, cheese, and cupcakes, flickering candles lent ambience to the already naturally tranquil milieu. 

An a cappella group launched the program and set the tempo for a sequence of performances that followed, which included juggling, magic, and music. 

Key players in the cemetery’s development delivered information, updates, and grateful acknowledgment of particular contributors.  

People learned that two hundred and forty bodies have been buried there, with about one thousand more plots having been purchased and reserved for occupancy.  Thirty additional acres of land had recently been acquired, thereby enlarging the parcel of one hundred acres.  Use of a portion of the new territory for a pet cemetery is under consideration.  

Donations are solicited for projects and expenses of all sorts.

There are many opportunities for volunteer engagement, either as a one-time contribution or on a regular basis.  Assisting with burial ceremonies or greeting mourners are among the possibilities, in addition to serving as a representative at events such as tours and fundraisers.  

Rolling up one’s sleeves to tackle physical tasks is another option.  An old farmhouse alongside the access road has been pegged as a potential facility where visitors would be able to gather.  But for that to happen, it must be spruced up and adapted for that purpose.  Cleaning efforts could also be undertaken in the small building that serves as office headquarters.  Help with maintaining buildings and grounds might entail painting, gardening, or mowing.  And a parking lot is sorely needed, particularly at certain times of the year when navigating over grassland becomes a weather-induced challenge.  

Manpower is sought also to remove invasive species from the newly procured thirty-acre property.  Such an initiative is an ongoing mission throughout the entire cemetery terrain.  Non-native Norway spruce trees have been cut down in one of the meadows, consonant with a recommendation by an ecological advisory committee.  An annual December event, dubbed “Greenery Day,” draws a substantial number of people.  Last year two hundred individuals were on hand to topple the overgrown, non-native trees.  Folks who participate in this venture take home the tree tops to display as Charlie Brown Christmas trees.    

So Greensprings continues to be a work in progress… progress that has been remarkable during the past ten years, energized by the commitment of core leaders as well as the volunteers who have provided impressive donations of time, effort, and monetary support.   

As the program ebbed, in a bow to Buddhist tradition for wishing people well, a leader sang phrases as part of a “Loving Kindness Meditation,” invoking communal responses and contemplation of sentient words:  “May I be a source of healing, may I bring peace, may my heart be open, may I be awakened to my true nature, may you be a source of true healing, be at peace, may all beings awaken to the light of true nature…”  

Before a rendition of the well-known song, “Simple Gifts,” was sung, the burial coordinator referenced the emotional ramifications of burials at Greensprings.  Having participated in many interments there while believing that “nature is nurturing,” she has observed that being in a beautiful place helps to absorb mourners’ sadness. 

But Greensprings is for everyone, not just the mourners and the bodies of their deceased loved ones.  All seekers of outdoor resuscitation are welcome to connect with the land there by taking walks and using the grounds. 

Following the agenda of activities, guests were offered an opportunity to choose from a menu of “field trip” opportunities.  An ornithologist would lead a group through the territory to scout for bird sightings and sounds, where migratory bobolinks thrive along with meadowlarks, Henslow’s sparrows, northern harriers, and other winged flutterers.  The wife of one of the founders, Carl Leopold (whose body was buried on the grounds), is now a trustee who would give folks an overview of the cemetery’s plants.  The most colorful option entailed accompanying a gourde puppet bedecked in autumnal orange through the meadows to distribute milkweed seeds for propagation of butterfly habitats.

Dauntless guests may have opted to be led to the old, uninhabited farmhouse where the leader offered to descend into the basement for a peek at its potential.  But a number of people chose what was perhaps a less formidable and more illuminating option: an abbreviated tour of the grounds with visits to a few gravesites.  

The first stop was for a look at demonstration arenas.  Two rock-delineated gardens contained examples of native plants that families can choose to plant over graves; one has plants and the other has a small assortment of grasses.  

Nearby, the ground is dotted with examples of flat stones that would be appropriate grave markers.  

Burrowed within adjacent territory is the grave warmer (fueled by propane) that can be used if necessary to thaw the ground prior to a winter burial.  

Upon observing gravesites, individuals were given answers to their inquiries.

Plot dimensions are fifteen feet square, assuring low-density layouts and ease of maneuvering around graves with a backhoe. 

For the most part, bodies are not embalmed unless there is an extenuating circumstance.  One such situation relates to transport of a body from a state where embalming is required by law for transport to a different state.  It was noted, though, that bodies have been transferred to Greensprings by plane from California, Texas, and Georgia, but were not embalmed.

In accordance with a New York state regulation, a funeral director must certify that a body has been brought to the site of disposition.  One time a family transported their loved one’s body in a truck and the funeral director came in his own car.  

Currently, the cost for a plot to accommodate a body is $1,000., with an additional $1,000. fee for opening and closing the grave.  Small plots (290” X 90”)  can be purchased for burial of cremated remains, located in a small section of the cemetery; the cost is $350. for the space and an additional $350. to cover the fee for the burial process.    

Greensprings is characterized by heterogeneity of plot offerings.  That is, except for a field designated for Jewish burials where only Jewish people can be interred (according to the same natural principles that define green burials), there are no sections specifically for ethnic, religious, or fraternal groups.  

Across the road from the Jewish area, an expansive field labeled, “Bobolink Meadow” is where winter burials can be accommodated.  

Though New York City cemeteries are bursting at the seams, at this cemetery in the western realm of the state there's plenty of room to grow.  It was estimated that there is at least sixty percent availability of plots on land that has been surveyed, with lots of additional space in territory where surveys have not yet been conducted.    

*****

There was palpable excitement among the worker bees who had organized this afternoon affair.  It had been a success, judged by the responses and effusive affect of those who had attended the proceedings.  As a performer steered his car toward the road, he opened the window and called out to one of the organizers, acknowledging that he had enjoyed himself and he’d like to be invited back sometime.

Yes, it’s possible to enjoy oneself in a cemetery!  At this particular one, in contrast to visiting conventional burial grounds, it doesn’t entail reinforcing familiarity through observation of redundant hallmarks.  There are no headstones bearing entertaining epitaphs or paved walkways for daily strolls.  Here, unblemished by manifestations of mankind as a different type of invasive species, there’s a chance for immersion in an atmosphere that’s essentially free of human intervention.  Here, it’s possible to enjoy sensorial absorption, enabling one to get in touch with a primordial essence of beginnings and endings – the nature of natural cycles.  

Here, the presence of both the living and the dead represents a celebration of this elysian estate and all that is over, under, and around it.  On this re-appropriated parcel of land, one can’t help but feel appreciation for the impassioned spirits of those who seek to sustain nature’s bounty.   

Greensprings Facebook Page

Greensprings Website

Greensprings Photo Gallery

Finishing Touches Blog: Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve

Tompkins Weekly

The Ithaca Journal

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GREENSPRINGS NATURAL CEMETERY PRESERVE

Journey Journal... Newfield, New York

A SANCTUARY OF LEAVES FOR LEAVING

Imagine having this dream while buried in the depths of restful sleep:

You are ambling through exhilarating hilltop meadows 

under a breathtakingly alluring blue sky 

that’s crisply peppered with cumulus puffs.  

Tall wildflowers decorate the domain, boldly bespeaking patch-like formations suggestive of islands in a sea of grass… 

perpetually waving in response to the excitement of air.    

You observe the fluttering presence of winged aviators 

as they waft through the atmosphere and chirp melodically 

within enfolding branches of established trees rooted in history.  

Might these buoyant cherubs be angels?  

It is beautiful here.  

Borne of quiescence, calm prevails.  

You conclude that you are in heaven.

Then you wake up.  Suddenly, you realize your mind had transported you to a place in the real world that is Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve... the first green burial property in New York State and one of the first in the country.  

Your refreshing nocturnal interlude had put you in touch with a destination opportunity that can, indeed, be grasped when heaven calls.  

*****

This parcel of land encompassing one hundred and thirty acres that welcomes the dead is situated between forested territory south of Ithaca, in Newfield, New York.  Here, the unpretentious fusion of conservation initiatives with unadulterated surroundings poses a refreshing diversion from granite-studded grounds of conventional cemeteries. 

Formerly farmland, the expanse of primarily grasslands is bordered by both Arnot Forest, a 4,000-acre bird mecca owned by Cornell University, and the Newfield State Forest that encompasses 4,000 acres of protected woodlands. 

Here, where wildlife thrives in a habitat preserved for them, humans merge with beings living and dead in this creature compound.  Reverence for nature prevails.   

Seeded In Collaboration

Aware of the burgeoning concept of green burials, two women in Corning, Jennifer Johnson and Susan Thomas, had been nurturing an aspiration for the establishment of a natural burial site.  They even conceived the name, “Greensprings,” for a property that was not yet a reality.  

Meanwhile, in Ithaca, other individuals subsequently began thinking along similar lines.  Tom Eisner, an environmentalist and Cornell University professor, was contemplating a measure to memorialize people by placing a plaque at an entrance to a nature preserve.  Mary Woodsen, an Ithaca environmentalist and science writer, had been harboring thoughts about prospecting for a natural preserve specifically designated for scattering of cremated remains.  To this end, Mary collaborated with a like-minded preservationist and founder of the Finger Lakes Land Trust, Carl Leopold.  This man had won national acclaim as a plant physiologist and conservationist and had settled in Ithaca as a Cornell faculty member.  

In 2000, these three Ithaca locals joined forces when Tom Eisner inspired Mary and Carl to help establish a site for scattering of cremated remains.  At that time, thoughts had not turned to the prospect of using a preserve for burials.  But the focus changed in 2001, after Mary took a trip to visit South Carolina’s Ramsey Creek Preserve, the first natural cemetery established in the United States.  Having witnessed a lovely green burial, she returned energized and motivated to take action.  Her cohorts, however, initially felt disinclined due to the monumental complexities of such a project, thinking it would be too difficult.

At the time, they were not aware of the two Corning trailblazers who shared such an aspiration.  But, as Mary has said, these women were “way ahead of the game.”  In 2002 someone told Mary about Jennifer and Susan, prompting a phone call and subsequent joint meeting with Tom, Carl, and a few other like-minded folks.  Everyone was eager to work together, thereby setting the wheels in motion.    

Acquisition of property for this purpose was facilitated by the largess of the town supervisor, Herb Engman, who, as an ardent ecologist, was anxious to preserve the area’s beautiful terrain. Originally, he had intended to sell his one hundred acres of undeveloped holdings. After initially adopting a strategy for Greensprings to make payments over time, he eventually donated the land in a spirit of  commitment to the project.  He is now president of the cemetery’s Board of Trustees. 

Another member of the Land Trust, Joel Rabinowitz, became involved in 2004, joining the Board as the first non-founder.  He was immersed in the development and process while also participating in burials, eventually filling the role of director a year after the cemetery opened in 2006.  

The elected Board of Trustees, currently numbering nine individuals, is complemented by a bevy of volunteers who function in many different ways.  One of the founders, Jen Johnson, is the burial coordinator – a job that entails communication with providers as well as families and sometimes participation as the ceremonial officiant.  

The project has evolved over time into a successful enterprise, attracting attention through national publications and garnering approval for certification by the Green Burial Council.   

Bedding Down With Mother Nature

In accordance with green burial principles, bodies are buried under conditions that promote decomposition and a return of organic elements to the earth.  Their intimacy with the soil is facilitated by forbiddance of obstacles, particularly, metal caskets and concrete or steel vaults as well as plastic or other synthetic items.  Only biodegradable materials are permissible.  Preservation that stunts decay is contrary to such “composting” objectives, so embalming is prohibited, except under extenuating circumstances.  In spite of the low-density, fifteen-foot-square plots, little or nothing besides a body goes in the ground.  Bodies are wrapped in cotton, silk, wool, or other natural fiber fabric within simple cardboard coffins, natural caskets, or clothed in shrouds.

Though it is difficult for a backhoe to dig a shallow grave, the question of depth for interment is an ongoing one.  The old model of “six feet under” thwarts participation by biologically active, aerobic microbes living beneath the surface where oxygen is readily available. In an effort to capture potential for their engagement, burials at Greensprings are at a depth of four and a half feet.  

Bird's Eye View

At first glance, there is little to suggest the presence of bodies underground.  Conventional headstones and markers or alternative statuary are nowhere to be seen.  Instead, there may be a natural fieldstone flush to the ground over a site, sometimes nestled in tall grasses or brush.  It can be engraved at a family’s expense.  

An assorted collection of stones is situated alongside the cemetery office.  

Sometimes family members dig up rocks from the soil here that is full of them, placing them around the perimeter of a gravesite for additional delineation.

During the month of June, the idiom, “pushing up daisies” may come to mind among astute observers who realize the tall islands of daisies amid the otherwise green landscape are actually covering graves. The oxeye daisy is apt to be the first flora to bloom over a disturbed site, representing an unintended invasive species while announcing colorful significance.   

Gravesite locations are designated and recorded in accordance with a grid system. Simple markers serve as directional guides to sites. 

Phlox Marks The Spot

Families are permitted to plant certain native perennials, grasses, and ferns over graves.  An inclusive list of allowable varieties is given to them with guidelines, and samples are grown in small demonstration gardens.  

Gravesite planting can be a therapeutic form of expression for bereaved family members who reside in the vicinity of the cemetery.  Tending to living flora above the surface affords an opportunity to render ongoing ministrations in the name of the one whose body lies below, to whom tender loving care can no longer be directly administered.
  

A large area of colorful blossoms exemplifies a mother’s committed nurturance in response to the loss of her son who had died in his early twenties. 

Trees and shrubs can be selected by families and planted by staff, but only in a memorial grove by an area designated for sequential burials, that is, where more than one plot is allocated for additional family members

Generally, graves are situated amid wild and untamed meadows, except for intervention of ongoing efforts to remove invasive species. 

Mowing is minimal, thereby averting substantial carbon emissions from equipment.  Trails are maintained through routine cutting, but around grave sites the mowing is done only once a year, in October and November.  

Home On The Range

Attending a burial here is apt to endow mourners with an experience unlike any they’ve witnessed at conventional cemeteries.  Significantly removed from a main thoroughfare, the drive along a rural road to access Greensprings sets the stage for that which is to follow.  A sense of retreat from the frenzy of familiar sights and sounds greets them upon stepping out of their cars.  Here on a hilltop surrounded by and exposed to everything natural, one becomes keenly conscious of a peaceful balm… unless the wind is having a say in the matter.  All senses are activated, instilling the essence of life in this neighborhood of the dead.  

Final proceedings are conducted in a manner more homespun than commercial.  The contained or shrouded body is placed on a rudimentary cart for the journey to its final resting place.  Dubbed, “the pallbearer’s friend” or the “spirit barge,” students in a BOCES welding class were commissioned to construct this all-terrain means of conveyance featuring durable tires.  

A commonplace farm utility vehicle, often called a mule, is utilized as a mechanical mode for transporting people through the fields.  It helps individuals for whom walking in this terrain is difficult.  Most mourners, however, walk to the burial sites.  

Upon arriving at the gravesite, the pallbearers (who are often family members) lift the casket or body and lay it on cross pieces straddling the open grave.  Ethnic, religious, or military practices may be part of variable observances that transpire.  A meaningful service of committal usually precedes the lowering of the casket by hand (rather than mechanically) using lowering straps.  A ceremonial shoveling of dirt may follow, or the entire grave can be filled in by mourners, if desired.  The grave is covered with a mound of dirt that recedes over time as the body decomposes underneath it and eventually becomes flush with the ground.  Evergreen boughs are placed over and around the grave.  

Individuals in attendance become absorbed in the proceedings and the aura of it all.  "We've seen people come to a burial in pain and leave with joy," says Mary Woodsen.  "It can be transformative for people to lower their beloved dead into the grave themselves.  It's so different than the conventional approach, where you walk away after a committal service and a mechanical lowering device does the committal instead."  

Anyone who attends a natural burial may experience attitudinal remodeling.  Witnessing the basal return of a body to earthly elements can prompt a mutation of one’s death perception… that, in this context, the end of life begets new beginnings.  A green burial awakens the senses, causing people to take note of its logic while tapping into their internal reservoirs of feelings and spurring pervasive absorption that won’t be forgotten.

One woman documented her experience with these words:  “I went to a burial at Greensprings in the winter, with snow on the ground. There was a horse there to pull the body on a sleigh. The horse had black and silver livery, and it was so cold you could see the breath from the horse. The person who had died was in a shroud—you could see the shape of her body and there was greenery on the body for simple, natural decoration. People participated in filling the grave. There were a lot of tears, and there was something about that environment that seemed to welcome their heartbreak; the earth welcomed the body. They weren't putting the body in a lead-lined box and keeping the body from the earth. It was raw, painful, and beautiful. I wonder if the stark simplicity of such burials allows us to more deeply take in what has happened — and thus provides for some measure of healing.”  (Saoirse McClory, “Greensprings Completes a Natural Life, by Jayalalita for Green Leaf, GreenStar Natural Foods Market, originally published May 5, 2013)

*****

Perhaps the green burial movement in this country has ignited a newfound appreciation for the utility of human substance within an amazing sphere of creation.  Perhaps people are progressively welcoming opportunities for riveting connections impelled by expressive proceedings of death.  Increasingly, interest is being stoked by efforts like those of the Greensprings trailblazers who broke ground and unearthed an opportunity for ecologically conscientious bodily disposition.  Long live their spirit of devotion to the natural life cycle and organic renewal!  

Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve

Greensprings Photo Gallery

GreenStar Natural Foods Market Article

Tompkins Weekly

The Ithaca Journal

Finishing Touches Blog: Anniversary Celebration

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CEMETERY CAFES

Journey Journal... Berlin, Germany

BEAN STEAM UNDERTAKING

Photo Source: publicdomainpictures.net

Imagine having arrived at a cemetery to begin exploring the territory when a sign planted along its pastoral trail distracts you from your intended course.  Suddenly, your salivary glands shift into overdrive upon reading that there’s a popular name-brand source of coffee available for purchase in the funeral home back at the entrance to the property.  

Any discerning proprietor of such an establishment must realize the symbolism associated with this accustomed stimulant of human propulsion.  Coffee screams hospitality!  Pots of scintillating java have been reposing ubiquitously in funeral homes for many years, readily available to boost the spirits and strength of heavyhearted clients.

In one instance, at least, the lure of this familiar drink awakened a marketing strategy to whet the appetites of community members, arousing them to be introduced to a funeral home that otherwise could have remained foreign to their consciousness.  A few years ago a drip of hot news appeared on the My Wonderful Life website. The Bowman Funeral Home in Chatham, England had brewed up a secondary, full-bodied attraction at its drive-thru window, which seemed to be percolating quite robustly.  In hopes that people would come to a grinding halt and take advantage of their cordiality, they provided free coffee for two hours early on a Wednesday morning every week.  The idea was intended to jolt awareness and stimulate familiarity with their business so that community members would be left with a strong aftertaste of rich flavors that would linger with them until “time of need.”  More recently, under new ownership as the Dennings of Chatham Funeral Home, tidings of goodwill have been conveyed by offering free coffee for a month to draw attention to a local hospice.  

Though coffee is simmering in funeral establishments around the world, nowadays in Western society, at least, a simple cup of store-bought joe doesn’t necessarily measure up to standards that sophisticated palates have come to expect.  It’s not just a cup of coffee… it’s an experience. People crave the paper cupfuls of diversified liquid refreshment poured under the watchful eyes of the double-tailed mermaid bearing a star-topped crown… or the likes of one of her brand-name-logo cohorts.  Perhaps in an environment of companion loss, availability of a customary drink may be a comforting way of connecting a grieving individual to something familiar.

In 2012 a construction project at the Robinson Funeral Home in Easley, South Carolina marked the advent of a Starbucks “Coffee Corner” attached to the main building for guest use, but also open for public access via a separate entrance by the parking lot. 

Photo Source:  WYFF News 4

New employees on the Robinson staff were trained by Starbucks for their barista roles. The coffee chain’s official menu dictates a selection of beverage and food items. Their contract with the funeral home is one of many food service accounts the company has with wide-ranging institutions and businesses, such as hospitals, auto dealerships, health clubs, etc.

Photo Source:  easleycoffee.com  

Preceding Robinson’s project by about a year, a similar enterprise owned and operated by a funeral home, but licensed by Starbucks to sell its products and use its equipment, was launched in Texas. The Turrentine Jackson Morrow Funeral Home in McKinney may have the distinction of being the first in the nation to institute this type of undertaking.  Here, the speciality hub is adjacent to a floral and gift shop, within sight of stone monuments for sale and down the hall from a room housing an assortment of caskets.  

Photo Source:  Louis DeLuca, The Dallas Morning News

The need for new revenue streams in funerary establishments could possibly have inspired this trademark retail initiative that prompted widespread publicity. Though primarily serving beleaguered client families, these sites also have been open to the public as a convivial meeting place and a convenient spot to pop in for a diversional break and a stiff sip.  Maybe they help dilute the usual intimidation that typically weakens people’s resolve when confronted by the prospect of stepping into a funeral home.  

Perhaps American cemeteries will take a cue from certain European counterparts where their burial grounds are complemented by cafes, possibly suggestive of a finishing touch.    

Berlin's inaugural one, the Finovo Cafe that was established in 2006 by Bernd Bossman, is immediately beyond the entrance gates of the St Matthaus Cemetery in the district of Schoneberg.

Passage toward the decorative entrance of the cottage confers colorful stimulation.

The building’s homey interior exudes eclectic charm, featuring a mishmash of tables and chairs in varied styles.  

Window sills, hallways, and other spots are festooned with knickknacks and wall hangings of different sorts that bespeak an Old World aura effectuated by donations of personal possessions.  

Photo Source: Spiegel Online International 

Cups and saucers with a history from lifelong collections are likely to be used instead of garden variety versions (or paper cups more commonly employed in the United States). 

Surfaces are covered randomly by books and brochures, including an announcement of a forthcoming Death Cafe to be held there.  

Except for a refrigerated unit showcasing desserts, a visitor could easily need a moment to convince oneself that this is a retail shop rather than a private home. 

A small room across from the cafe serves as quarters for a rudimentary flower shop.

The flower shop’s inventory extends outdoors, cozily defining parameters for a terraced enclave with tables and chairs.

  

Following a pause for restorative sustenance and revitalization in the cafe, a wide pathway affords easy access for a jaunt through the cemetery.  

The experience of wandering through burial grounds can be enhanced, likewise, by stopping in at another cemetery hotspot in Berlin – in the Kreuzberg district.  This one, the Cafe Strauss, which opened in 2013, is a Viennese Kaffeehaus situated just past an entrance to the Friedrichswerderscher Kirchhof on Bergmannstrasse (the Friedrichwerderscher Friedhof cemetery).  The cafe represents a metamorphosis of a bygone funeral home.  Its  name derivation relates to the Viennese waltz composers, the German word for ostrich, and the name of the owners.  

Immediately beyond the gate upon stepping foot on cemetery property, a sheltered patio with tables and chairs beckons.  Here, one can drink in the sunshine of life while overlooking vestiges of the dead for whom the bells have tolled since the 19th and 20th centuries. 

Inside, the atmosphere oozes rejuvenation.  With its sizable arched windows inviting daylight and tall ceilings affording plenty of air to breathe in this storied former den of the dead, the ambience summons an urge to relax amid the neatly arranged tables punctuated by vases sprouting bright floral blossoms.

History compounds the intrigue of this endeavor, conceived by a husband and wife team and operating in a section of this 19th-century funeral home where bodies were stationed prior to burial.  During that era and based on a rampant myth, a waiting period of three days was required to assure that no one would be buried alive.  Bells were attached to the bodies, which were supervised by a watchman who, while listening for the sound of ringing, sat in the space that has been repurposed as the cafe’s toilet room.

Nowadays, within this restored (thankfully) room the aroma of freshly brewed coffee blends with the sounds of spirited conversations among a mixture of patrons who are there for different reasons.  For some, a quest to discover graves of the Brothers Grimm along with other notables buried here may include a coffee break.  Other folks seek refuge in the cafe, nestling in a quiet harbor of rest.  “ ‘We are here in the cemetery,’ cries a guest in his phone. Before him is a plate of sandwiches and an organic beer.  Although it's early evening and a little cold, several guests are sitting on the wooden café terrace under the brick pillars of the former mortuary.  Two people have unpacked their tablet computers and work. ‘We enjoy the peace,’ said one visitor.”  

Mourners seek the solace of familiarity within the walls of this orderly shop so characteristic of German culture.  Casual locals appreciate availability that’s off the beaten track. Tourists are curious. The cemetery’s custodial workers probably can’t resist an urge to partake of the beverages, sandwiches, and cakes that are out of this world, yet so close at hand to their job site.  

Assorted teas and coffee varieties are specialties of the house.  

Purportedly, a guardian fox sometimes makes an appearance when in need of a change of scenery; typically, he observes funeral activities while perched on mausoleum roofs, but at other times he tends graves by terrorizing rabbits that would devour flowers on grave sites if he weren’t there to protect them.  

In a space that's visible from both the adjacent cafe and outdoors, an artistic creation serves as a backdrop for the appreciation of living bodies proceeding past it.  

A purposeful funeral director briskly emerges along a pathway after inspecting a grave site prepared for imminent interment.  Awaiting guests gather together en masse, some bearing bunches of flowers to deposit over the grave.  Soon the bells will ring, not inside the vestigial funeral home arena that is so alive with customers these days, but from the serene burial terrain rendering an aura of sorrowful quiescence. 

European cafe fare may be a far cry from the commercial precision of Starbucks-prepared concoctions, yet an aura of hospitality in an intimate setting affords a welcoming retreat.  Prospective plans were germinating for additional shops at two other cemetery sites in Berlin, as well as Munich.  Beyond their intrinsic reason for being, integrated activities render such havens all the more attractive. For instance, the Cafe Fritz in Hamburg and the Atrium Cafe in Bristol, England host musical performances and art exhibitions.  

Will cemetery cafe or coffee shop ventures become a trend?  It may not happen overnight, but as death is resolutely dragged out of the closet and increasingly tolerated as a fact of life, incubating entrepreneurs may think “outside the box” and recognize an opportunity to “roast in peace.”

Those who have already laid the groundwork for coffee shops in funeral milieus generated interest and publicity.  The concept was even reason enough to set creative minds in gear.  In 2012 when news of the forthcoming Robinson venture was stirred up by media, The Week introduced a contest via an online article, soliciting submissions of ideas for the cafe's name.  Entries included:  “Time to Meet Your Mocha” (Rabkin), “Latte for Your Own Funeral” (Wolf), “You Can Take It With You” (Frisch), “The Grim Roaster” (Fichtl), “De-Coffinated!” (O’Reilly), “Rigor Mochas” (Quilici), “The Last Cup” (Brandt), “Coffee to Go” (Horowitz), “Mourning Java” (Phillips), “Perkatory” (Lees), “Bean Nice Knowing You” (Weiner), and “A Better Place” (Blasko).

At least the unconventional marketing and service strategies such as these enterprises in the funeral industry bring the ordinarily freeze-dried topic of death to the surface, possibly filtering out unsavory perceptions.  Every little drip of inspiration that connects familiar and acceptable experiences with typically hard-to-swallow elements of mortality may help percolate positive altitudes and possibly even a strong aftertaste of pleasure. 

So what will it be?  Espresso, a latte, cappuccino, or mochaccino?   Sometime if you find yourself dying for a cup of coffee, you know where to go.  Enjoy it… to the last drop! 

Photo Source: publicdomainpictures.net

*****

References 

Quotation

The Week Contest

Bowman Drive-Thru

The Dallas Morning News

ABC News - Robinson

WYFF4 News

ABC News International

Spiegel Online International

Jane Yager Blog: Strauss Cafe

Funeral Home Coffee Shops - Finishing Touches Blog

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