GERMANY: Mourners may get some relief over loss of loved ones from digital tombstones

Record ID: 643990

  • Title: GERMANY: Mourners may get some relief over loss of loved ones from digital tombstones
  • Date: 3rd November 2008
  • Summary: (L!1) COLOGNE, GERMANY (OCTOBER 30, 2008) (REUTERS) GRAVES AT COLOGNE'S "WESTHOVEN" CEMETERY PAN FROM CONVENTIONAL TOMBSTONE ON GRAVE TO DIGITAL TOMBSTONE COVERED WITH WOODEN COVER SHAPED LIKE AN APPLE TREE LEAF MICHAEL KOENIGSFELD, CEMETERY GARDENER WHOSE AUNT IS BURIED HERE, WALKING TOWARDS DIGITAL TOMBSTONE ON HER GRAVE KOENIGSFELD ATTACHING BATTERY TO CABLE BEHIND DIGITAL TOMBSTONE KOENIGSFELD SLIDING OPEN WOODEN LEAF TO REVEAL MONITOR SLIDESHOW OF PICTURES WITH HIS DECEASED AUNT SHOWING IN DIGITAL TOMBSTONE'S DISPLAY (SOUNDBITE) (German) MICHAEL KOENIGSFELD, CEMETERY GARDENER WHOSE AUNT IS BURIED HERE, SAYING: "I was looking for a wooden tombstone on the Internet and then came across this digital one. I thought it was a great idea: something modern and new which I'm always open to." GRAVES (SOUNDBITE) (German) MICHAEL KOENIGSFELD, CEMETERY GARDENER WHOSE AUNT IS BURIED HERE, SAYING: "Younger people like it a lot, older people find it exposes too much to the public." CONVENTIONAL TOMBSTONES
  • Embargoed: 18th November 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAAI068R4MF67H6OIJ70PH489PG
  • Story Text: Mourners in Germany grieving the death of a loved one may now find some relief with the help of a digital tombstone showing pictures of the deceased person.
    Carpenter Carsten Glaser from Greven near Muenster, in the country's northeast, recently told Reuters Television how he was approached by the Dutch inventor of the digital tombstone.

    "I liked the idea and started thinking about how it could be turned into reality in Germany since we have tougher cemetery regulations than in the Netherlands," Glaser said.
    The battery operated monitor can be used for slide shows or a static picture of the deceased person, relatives, the person's pet or just about anything else which was dear to the person buried.
    Glaser said that so far, he sold four digital tombstones and is currently working on two new ones.
    A wooden cover shaped like an appletree leaf will decorate his next product of which he admits not everyone will be fond of.

    "Just like with any other new product, it takes its time to become a success," Glaser said of the 5,000 euro (6,389 U.S. dollars) digital tombstone.

    "Tombstones are different: After all, we're not selling coffee machines," Glaser said, adding "the feedback is very positive."
    One of his clients is Michael Koenigsfeld whose aunt is buried at Cologne's Westhoven cemetery, the place where Koenigsfeld works as a gardener.

    "I was looking for a wooden tombstone on the Internet and then came across this digital one. I thought it was a great idea: something modern and new which I'm always open to," he said.
    Because of his work at the cemetery, Koenigsfeld gets firsthand feedback on the digital tombstone.

    "Younger people like it a lot, older people find it exposes too much to the public," said Koenigsfeld.
    The digital tombstone might expose a lot of things, but not the deceased person's voice as, according to the maker of the digital tombstone, creating noise is against German cemetery regulations.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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