Hello Anna,
I didn't want the week to go by without commenting on your very moving post. As I read I thought of your post about Egyptian burials. The way we treat our dead tells so much about us. And cemeteries are windows into the past. They have always been that for me: to read the loving inscription of family for a child lost; to trace the toll of an epidemic as whole families are interred together.
The concept of shaft graves and Joseph II's insistence on simplicity was fascinating. I looked up the manner of his death and burial...apparently humility followed him to the grave. He instructed that "Here lies Joseph II, who failed in all he undertook" be inscribed on his monument!
Finally, I'll share with you a link to the cemetery I used to pass when I walked to the school bus stop every day (as a very young child). I think my regard for cemeteries may have grown from this experience.
Thank you for a thoughtful and moving post.
Regard and affection from across the sea,
AG
Hello AG,
It is fascinating to see how the funeral rituals in the different cultures has changed over the course of history. I spent the last week for a few days in my home city in East Tyrol. There I also visited the cemetery. it is noticeable that there are more and more cremations. for a long time the burning of the dead and the burial of ashes in catholic cemeteries was prohibited. By believing in the bodily resurrection of the dead according to the example of Jesus Christ, the intactness of the body was elementary for the resurrection.
I carry the memory of my ancestors in my heart. Therefore cemeteries are not a place of mourning for me, but rather a place of culture and history. As you write, a window into the past. Thank you for your link. This simple memorial from the middle of the 18th century is touching and I can imagine very well that it impressed you very much as a child.
I always appreciate your comments very much, a warm thank you for that! Love and all the best for you,
Anna
Dear Anna,
Thank you for that warm response.🌞
Have the most wonderful day.
Love,
AG
🌷🌻🌼