Anmeldung einer Friedwaldbestattung

If you would like to arrange a burial in the woods, it is best to contact the relevant cemetery operator.

In Rhineland-Palatinate, it is possible to carry out burials in a so-called burial or cemetery forest in specially designated areas that must be approved as burial grounds.

A burial in a forest or under a tree is a form of cremation or urn burial. This is not regulated as an independent form of burial in the Rhineland-Palatinate Burial Act. As cemetery operators, the municipalities decide within the scope of their self-administration whether they provide burial sites in woodland; there is no obligation to do so.

The will of the deceased shall be decisive for the place, type and execution of the burial, insofar as this does not conflict with statutory provisions or compelling public interests.

A burial requires written permission from the local regulatory authority at the place of burial.

A new type of burial has developed under names such as cemetery forest, tree burial and resting forest, in which burials take place under trees. These are almost exclusively cremations. The areas are dedicated as cemeteries. The cemetery operators are not obliged to provide this service.