Into the Woods

Credit: Friedwald.de

Were you to walk into one of FriedWald’s EcoEternity forests in Germany, you may not necessarily know that you had entered a green burial site. No headstones to be seen, no large tombs proclaiming the importance of the interred. You would simply witness a well-conserved forest, lush and green, with large trees rooting into a ruddy existence.

Credit: Friede-bamberg.de

On the surface, the forest would look like any other. You could see people hiking nearby, recreating and enjoying the natural scenery, oblivious to what lies underfoot. Nestled into the grounds are biodegradable urns with cremated remains. Walking up to a tree marked with a colored band, you may see small name plaques marking those buried at the tree’s roots.

The Germans are known for their forests and for leading the world in eco-friendly living, so naturally these sentiments extend into burial practices. Enriched with love, for the earth and for loved ones no longer living, FriedWald (translated as “peaceful forest”) offers a contemporary twist rooted in German tradition.

FriedWald leases natural space in multiple forests around Germany from federal and municipal governments. The company chooses areas that are easily accessible and offer sublime views of nature.

The requirements for this burial practice are minimal: the remains must be cremated and the urn biodegradable. Nature reigns and the forests are public, so the company also limits the use of candles and arrangements that stay behind after the ceremony. Beyond that, the burial ritual is customizable.

Credit: Friedwald.de

Naturalists can assist in the burial of the bio-urn, and the family can choose if they want a formal service or a celebration with minimal structure, with or without religious undertones.

A name plaque on the tree is optional, and the burial can be anonymous if desired. The company keeps all location information, so even without a public mark, friends and family can visit the tree that their loved one is buried under.

Forests have long played a role in German identity. The Black Forest – or Schwarzwald – is one of the most celebrated of the Northern European forests, so called because of the density of its trees, which fosters more dark than light. As Bogumil Goltz described it, the Schwarzwald was “the wood in which all of nature’s secrets and all of her favors are found together.”

German fairytales, immortalized by the Brothers Grimm, often took place in forests, where what unfolded was thrilling and frightening, underpinned by a strong sense of mythological possibility. Anything could happen. From darkness springs mystery, enacted by witches and sorcerers who could take or give life at will.

Credit: Friedwald.de

German forests are a play on light and shadow, a place of life and death; a sanctuary and a force to be reckoned with. The forests symbolize how deeply intertwined the forces of life and death are. They manifest continual growth fed by the necessity of death.

These same forces play out in the wilds of America, and this natural burial practice has officially jumped the pond. Along the East Coast of the United States, EcoEternity forests allow Americans to have natural burials in the lasting grandeur of nature. As natural burials gain wider acceptance, we will likely see this beautiful burial practice continue to make ground around the world.

Now no longer seen as double, double toil and trouble, German forests are sites of connection and grounding in modern life and death; a reminder that our physical lives are fleeting, and nature hums along once we return to it, as part of it.