Private cemetary problems

[gardener]

This cropped up on a news site here - it says that the privately-run cemetery in Oslo is covering up grave stones if the rent hasn't been paid!
http://www.bt.no/nyheter/lokalt/670-gra ... 05653.html

[snoopysue]

My Norwegian is good enough for me to understand that Norway has a similar system to Denmark. You have the grave for a certain number of years, usually a minimum of 25. After that time, you can choose to "rent" it for a further period of time. If you chose not to, then the gravestone is removed, and the grave reused. It doesn't come as a surprise to the Danes - the system has been in place for many many years.
The only graves that remain are ones that have some special historical significance.
The covering up of the gravestone is a way of giving the relatives a bit of extra time, when the graveyard is totally within its rights to remove the headstone six months after the twenty five years is up, if no-one pays the extra rent. It may seem strange to us, but that is the system.
My husband's paternal grandfather's gravestone wasn't removed for years after the 25 years was up, but that was in a small village that probably has fewer and fewer residents every year. Whereas his maternal grandmother's gravestone (which was also for his maternal grandfather) was removed almost straight away, as it was in a "popular" graveyard in a large town.

[dudleytaylor]

So where do they put the grave stone after they have removed it ?

[gardener]

That's probably why it made the news here Snoopy. As soon as one graveyard is filled they just open another. It makes it a long trek on Christmas Eve for the people who like to go and visit the family graves in between work ending at noon and Christmas starting at 6. The newest spot was only accessed from a single road for a few years and the cars sat bumper to bumper until the road system caught up with demand.

[snoopysue]

So where do they put the grave stone after they have removed it ?

They are usually moved to a separate part of the graveyard - I suppose after a certain number of years they may be removed totally, but I'm not sure.

[dudleytaylor]

So where do they put the grave stone after they have removed it ?

They are usually moved to a separate part of the graveyard - I suppose after a certain number of years they may be removed totally, but I'm not sure.

I think that is sad , but i think they will do something here soon ,because no one looks after the graves when all the family are gone .

[snoopysue]

I think that is sad , but i think they will do something here soon ,because no one looks after the graves when all the family are gone .

To be honest, the Danes don't think it's sad at all, when I tell people that British graves are there "for ever" (well until they need to build something on the site!), they think that's odd.
I suppose it's something to do with what you're used to. I mean, if you were buried in Paris up until the early 1800's you might be on public display in the catacombes today - fascinating, ghoulish and definitely odd (and well worth a visit)!