Another Funeral Forest, the Trostwald

I have shown you a Begräbniswald, what then is a Trostwald? It is another natural burial site. Trost means comfort or consolation and Wald means forest.

Here I will show an example in Odenthal, which is only a 20 minute drive away from where I live; actually it’s quite near to the Begräbniswald in Hand. I took the pictures during May 2017.

This funeral forest really is a forest. Most of the trees are beech trees. There are some quite old ones. „The forest with its tall trees, the crowns shield us, the trunks we lean on to rest and the roots draw power from the earth to give support.” At the Trostinsel (Comfort Island) the ashes of children up to three years are buried for free. Prices vary in between 250-800 €. That is less than an anonymous urn burial on a cemetery. 

 

The crowns shield us, the trunks we lean on to rest - 

and a cross, a simple wooden cross

 

 A plan to find the right tree

Nameplates on the trees

Another cross and the young plant on the tree stump 

giving hope and consolation

Links:

http://www.trostwald.de/index.php/vorsorge

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