When a loved one passes in Germany, there are still timetables and procedures a family must keep in mind – particularly if the deceased is a foreigner. This is especially true as German law around declaring death and what to do with remains applies to anyone who dies in Germany – even if they were just a visiting tourist – at least until the remains can be repatriated.

A funeral home or consulate from the country where the deceased was a national can help out with a lot of this. But mourners should still be aware of a few key documents and steps. Here’s a few of the basics.

Death certificate

This is the most important document the bereaved are going to need, as the death certificate (Sterbeurkunde) is needed before you can do much else. Anyone who dies in Germany – even if they’re just a visiting tourist – will need to have one.

The first step to getting one of these is to get a declaration of death – or Totenschein – from a medical doctor. If your loved one has died in hospital, medical staff there will typically get started on this for you right away. If the deceased has passed away outside of hospital, you’ll need to call a physician. This can be your family doctor or an emergency doctor – Notarzt – from the directory.

Once the doctor has declared the death and issued the Totenschein, you must take that declaration to your local registry office (Standesamt) within three days. It’s at this point though that you can enlist the help of a funeral home – who can take care of this step for you. The Standesamt must be in the district where the deceased pass away – not necessarily their home district. They’ll then issue the death certificate.

Even if the funeral home mostly handles this for you, you’re going to need a few documents from the deceased – including their identification (like their passport), their religion (if any), and their birth certificate. If the deceased was married, you’ll need their spouse’s details and marriage certificate as well. If the deceased was divorced abroad, you’ll need those papers. Finally, if the deceased has naturalised as a German – you’ll need to provide the naturalisation certificate.

Once you have a death certificate, you can typically get the deceased’s responsible consulate to help you out with recognitions and translations – which you might need to make an insurance claim, for example, in the deceased’s home country. The responsible consulate may also be able to help with other things, such as notifying next of kin or providing advice on how to repatriate the remains back to the deceased’s home country. This is particularly true if the deceased person was just visiting Germany when they passed. But you’ll need to settle a few more documents if you want to repatriate the remains.

The Standesamt may also be able to issue an internationale Sterbeurkunde – or international death certificate – that includes an English translation.

READ ALSO: Everything you need to know about German inheritance law

Selecting a funeral home

You can liaise with a funeral home as soon as you have the Totenschein – or wait until you have a death certificate. A consulate may be able to help you help you find one, but it’s often best just to seek advice from friends for an appropriate one.

The decision is important, as a good funeral home should help you to navigate most of the bureaucracy from this step on. You also typically must choose one, as certain things – from embalming to burial – can only be carried out by a regulated funeral home.

From here, your options are typically burial, cremation, or repatriating the deceased’s remains back to their home country.

Burial or cremation in Germany

If you choose for your loved one to be buried or cremated in Germany, the rules can differ slightly depending on the federal state concerned. 

Depending on the federal state, the deceased’s body must be moved to a morgue a maximum of 24 to 36 hours after their death declaration. Burial or cremation then can’t happen until 48 hours have passed since death. Depending on the federal state, burial or cremation must happen a maximum of between four and ten days after death.

If you opt for a burial, it must be done at a cemetery, where you typically rent a burial plot for 20-30 years – with extensions possible. 

If you opt for cremation – at 77 percent of families with loved ones who have passed away now do – you have a few more options. The cremation must happen soon after death. But you can bury or spread the ashes between one and six months later – depending on your federal state.

You can also opt to have an urn with the ashes buried on a cemetery plot, in certain forests near the roots of trees, or out at sea outside the three-mile zone.

Repatriating remains to the deceased’s home country

Repatriating a deceased’s remains from Germany is a complicated – but not impossible – procedure.

You’re definitely going to need an international death certificate and may need an additional certificate allowing for the remains to be shipped – either in a casket or urn. Shipping an urn is generally cheaper, but private individuals aren’t allowed to do so. A funeral home in Germany can typically help with most of this. The big thing is to make sure you get an international death certificate if you can – and involve the deceased’s responsible consulate if needed – particularly if they were just visiting Germany. Even if they were a German resident though, you can still repatriate their remains if you wish.

How much does all of this cost?

That can vary greatly depending on federal state or funeral home – but it’s not unusual to see the cost of a funeral in Germany goes into the thousands of euros. Generally speaking, cremation is cheaper than burial. Repatriation will definitely incur extra costs, but shipping an urn will be considerably less expensive than shipping a casket. Casket shipment, for example, can run a price tag of €5,000 – around the cost of many German funerals.