The Apfelbaum Urnengarten (Apple Tree Urn Garden) at the St. Barbara cemetery in Linz, for which the Diocese of Linz is responsible, opened its doors on 8 July 2020.
The website Diozese-Linz.at writes that apple trees and apple cores are "memorial signs," and apple rings made of stone are "central design elements" of the tomb complex.
The cinerarium was designed by the Viennese sculptor Arnold Reinthaler, who said at the opening ceremony that the apple core accompanies a person through life and in the end marks the place of mourning.
Biodegradable urns are buried in the garden meadow where the apple trees grow and feed the latter.
Portable apple seed shaped stones are used as memorials instead of tomb monuments. Inscriptions on the stone cores may be done individually.
Father Manfred Wageneder blessed the cinerarium expressing his wish that the garden become a place of confidence, hope for eternal life, and a place of comfort for the people.
A snack was served at the opening: apple …More