Rising energy prices are affecting numerous sectors. Undertakers and crematoria are not excluded from this either.
Schmalkalden (dpa/th) - There are currently no price increases for burials with cremation in Thuringia, despite the sharp rise in gas prices. The industry is not yet affected by the increase in gas prices, said the chairman of the Thuringia undertakers' association, state guild master Gerd Rothaug, to the dpa. Many companies would still have fixed prices until next year or even the year after next, if they exist and are not changed by law.
Nevertheless, the undertakers are also considering how the gas-powered ovens in the crematoria can be optimized. However, according to the Federal Immission Control Ordinance, strict limit values must be observed. Under certain circumstances, new systems could work better. However, it takes more than a year from planning to implementation. In addition, every company must consider whether it is financially capable of realizing a new plant.
Rothaug doesn't believe there will be no more cremations should the gas emergency be called. "I'm assuming that we'll then be among the groups that can continue to get gas," he said. He does not believe that cremations should be stopped. "We can't just bury the bodies." Even in a time like this, the preservation of piety and human dignity is the top priority.
Most of the municipal crematoria in Thuringia are already considering raising prices. The Weimar crematorium announced that the additional costs for gas per cremation must currently be assumed to be 25 to 30 euros. However, these cannot necessarily be added to the fee one-to-one, since, for example, the costs of recalculating the fee are minimized by depreciation that has since been omitted or loans that have been repaid. Cemetery fees and cremation fees are currently being recalculated.
In Jena, the prices for a cremation were last adjusted in February 2022 and are now 270 euros. A renewed price increase is currently not planned, but the current price development is being closely monitored. In Erfurt, to minimize gas consumption, the deaths are cremated in batches in order to achieve full utilization of the cremation ovens on a daily basis. In the course of this, the furnaces are idle for one or two working days.
The city announced that the price increases would not be passed on to the undertakers at the moment. A final calculation will not be made until 2023. The situation is different in the privately run crematorium in Gotha: cremation there now costs around 10 percent more, which is passed on to the undertakers.
