In Berlin there are 228 cemeteries of which 190 cemeteries are open.
The city of Berlin manages 90 cemeteries, 2 in the Berlin area. The other
cemeteries maintained by the legally independent churches of different
denominations. The Evangelical Church in Berlin manages 118 cemeteries
and 2 in the Berlin area. There are 9 Catholic cemeteries, 5 Jewish cemeteries,
one Russian Orthodox cemetery and a Muslim burial ground.
Cemeteries in
Brandenburg, are managed by the respective districts, cities, communities and churches.
At the most cemeteries in Berlin there are no restrictions to faith, nationality, residence
or similar. In Brandenburg, especially smaller cemeteries it is quite common
to allow burials only if the deceased had a connection to the town or city.
At some Churchyards there are often rules that a memorial service may only be held
by a priest.
Usually people who were not members of the Catholic Church can be buried in the Catholic cemeteries in Berlin. Use of the chapel for a funeral services requires that the services is conducted by a pastor.
The Islamic funeral rules and German funeral law are often in conflict. The rules state that the deceased should be buried immediately after ritual washing s and prayers, the body wrapped in cloths and placed sideways into the earth with the head facing Mekka. The burial should take place in “virgin” soil which means that noone was buried in that spot before – and the rest should be eternal. Therefor it was custom among muslims to transfer the remains of deceased relatives back to their country of origin. In recent years an increasing number of islamic grave fields have been created on german cemeteries to enable muslims to bury their deceased in the country that has become the new home for the second and third generation.
Graveyard Ruhleben is Berlin's first Buddhist burial ground. There exist 100 plots for burials and 600 for inurned burials. A Buddha statue stands in the middle of the field.
The Russian Orthodox congregation belongs to the jurisdiction of the Berlin Diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate. The cemetery in the Wittestraße in Reinickendorf was founded in 1893 and created with 4,000 tons of Russian Earth. It is managed by the congregation.
The Jewish cemeteries are as bet ha-chajjim (place of life) or bet ha-olam (place of eternity). Cremation is not very common. Law-abiding Judaism forbids it while it occurs in Liberal circles. On the graveyard of the Berlin Jewish congregation Weißensee (opened 1880) urns were first buried inside of normal coffins. . Jewish graves may never be leveled to make room for a new grave and have to last forever. The cemeteries are the property of the Jewish congregation.
Funeral directors Schuster will make all appointments with administrations of cemeteries, crematories, celebration halls etc.