The Integration of Death

Rows and rows of neat graves line the paths of Cologne’s Westfriedhof. Then, all of a sudden, a field catches the eye. Here, all of the graves are slanted.

The Westfriedhof is one of 70 public cemeteries in Germany that have set up Muslim burial grounds. The graves are dug so that a corpse lying on its right side faces Mecca. Some plots at the Westfriedhof bear ornate tombstones shaped like mosques or engraved with decorative inscriptions. Others are marked by a simple wooden plaque.

“Burial culture, like every form of culture, is constantly changing,” said Kerstin Gernig, director of the Board of German Undertakers. “We are not a homogenous society, but rather an intercultural, a multicultural one, where various needs must be responded to accordingly.”

Decades after the first Muslim guest workers began arriving in Germany from Turkey and North Africa, where and how they bury their dead has forced Germans to re-evaluate the laws and traditions involved in the country's burial culture.

Reunited in death with the home they left behind

Until now, Muslim burials have actually been more the exception than the rule in Germany. Many first generation Muslims, who came here in the 1960s, still have strong family and emotional ties to their home countries. They live here in the knowledge that though they may not return home during their lifetime, but at least be reunited in death.

In addition, the prohibitive cost of burial in Germany, the small number of Muslim cemeteries and legal disagreements over the method of Muslim burial have made burial abroad more attractive for most Muslim families, says Mustapha El-Founti, who owns al-Rahma in Essen, one of Germany’s largest funeral homes for Muslims.

According to El-Founti, transporting a corpse to Turkey or Morocco costs about €2,000 ($2,400), a third of the cost of a

A German and Turkish flag