At the Northern burial ground in Solna, there are many graves that no one visits or pays for maintenance. And when the lack of space makes itself felt even underground, more people can move in. Since the burial peace applies, the coffins and urns that are already here are not touched, but the new ones are placed on top.
– There is room for three coffins and 64 urns here. So that it would accommodate a whole family. If you would like to have this grave, the tombstone is included, says Annelie Sjöström, who is head of communications at the Cemetery Administration in Stockholm.
The old text is ground away
If you want to reuse the tombstone, the old text is ground away, before the stone receives new inscriptions, but often the decorations can be saved.
– The old stones are so beautifully designed. There is no one today that manufactures in that way. Then you can reuse it, and keep these shapes as they have done, says Stefan Widmark, CEO of Wila Stenhuggeri.
About 20 percent of our headstones are reused. Most stones are otherwise mined in Sweden, but some come from further away, something that has climate consequences.
– The imported stones have between six and eight times higher environmental impact than when using the Swedish stone. And if you can use recycled stone, it will be even lower, says Kai Marklin, chairman of Sweden’s Stone Industry Association.
Cultural history
But not all headstones can be reused. There are regulations about it, because you don’t want to erase important cultural history.
– We will never remove the gravestones of famous people. Alfred Nobel’s grave is over here, for example, and it will always be there, says Annelie Sjöström.
– These tombstones will be here for a long time. And hopefully people will come here to bury and redo the stones and move here for at least another 200 years!