"I want to accompany the dying." That's what Johanna Klug said when she was 20. At that time, death was almost an everyday occurrence for her. While her friends party, Johanna Klug spends her youth in a retirement home. She has never questioned dying.
Now Johanna Klug is a death attendant. She brings death into the middle of life - and draws the best out of it. What does the perfect death look like? To this day she has had no answer. But she says: "We have a problem with accepting death as part of life." And: "Dying is so normal. We let it become so abnormal."
Death is also part of life for Yvonne Mehne and her daughter Sarah. The 14-year-old will die earlier than her peers, much earlier. Sarah has childhood dementia, a rare, life-limiting disease. She doesn't know she's going to die. The girl still has big plans and keeps making big plans for the future, says Sarah's mother.
In the new episode of the stern podcast "The Search for the Good Death", host Lukas Sam Schreiber learns from euthanasia nurse Johanna how much one learns from the dying for life - and how one can prepare for death.
About the podcast: "The Search for the Good Death" is a seven-part documentary about the role of death in our lives and how we want to die. Lukas Sam Schreiber looks for answers for his mother, who has dementia, and finds them in conversations with people who are closest to death.
This episode is supported by the Körber Foundation. The foundation wants to take the taboo out of dying and death and encourage people to confront their own finiteness. She developed the web app "The Last Day" for this purpose. What if today was the last day of your life? What else would you like to experience? Who do you want to meet? You can plan your fictitious last day and share your thoughts on dereltetag.de - and thus find out what is really important in life.
"The Search for the Good Death" appears every Thursday on stern.de as well as on AudioNow, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and on all common podcast platforms. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to listen to and subscribe to podcasts.
Do you have suicidal thoughts? The telephone counseling service offers help. She is anonymous, free and available 24 hours a day on (0800) 1110111 and (0800) 1110222. Consultation via e-mail is also possible. A list of nationwide help centers can be found on the website of the German Society for Suicide Prevention.
