Stadtwerke Gießen invited interested parties to visit the crematorium at Gießen's New Cemetery. Employees gave a guided tour of the facility last Saturday and provided information about the technology, among other things.
Three years ago, the crematorium at the New Cemetery, which was managed by the city of Giessen at the time, received a special award - the "Controlled Crematorium" seal, which has only been awarded to a small number of crematoriums in Germany to date. Among other things, it stands for the sensitive, compassionate treatment of mourners by all employees and for the modern, emission-reducing technology of the facility. Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG) took over the management of the crematorium at the beginning of 2013. As a municipal company, SWG is committed to the existing tradition and guarantees a dignified and discreet cremation.
"We have also improved our service this year. The administration is now also located in the crematorium, which ensures that everything necessary can be organised quickly and directly. We have also been able to reduce the price of a cremation to 400 euros, including all ancillary services," explains Ulrich Jochim, team leader at the crematorium.
At the open day on 14 September, he and Heiko Hederich, also an employee at the crematorium, gave interested parties a tour of the facility and answered visitors' questions.
State-of-the-art technology
The Protestant church authorised cremations in the 1950s, the Catholic church around a decade later. Since then, the number of urn burials has grown - to currently around 75 per cent in Giessen. Ulrich Jochim explained during the guided tours: "We operate our facility every working day and the undertakers can collect the urn after three days at the latest." The team carries out around 2,000 cremations per year.
During the tours, visitors were also given an insight into the crematorium's modern technology. "Just as reverence and sensitivity are our top priorities when dealing with the dead and their relatives, climate protection is a top priority when operating the crematorium," Ulrich Jochim assured the visitors. In 2000, the cremation facilities were modernised in accordance with the strict requirements of the Federal Immission Control Act. Three filters connected in series prevent toxic pollutants from escaping. "Our crematorium is state of the art and is one of the pioneers when it comes to environmental protection," emphasised the team leader.
Further information is available from Stadtwerke Gießen on the crematorium's website at www.krematorium-giessen.de.