Quest for a bargain... to the grave
| FEATURE |
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BERLIN — “If you find it cheaper anywhere else, we’ll pay you back the difference, plus 30 euros,” reads the advert — not for the latest electrical device on special offer on the high street but for a funeral.
Germany, which bore discount supermarket giants Aldi and Lidl to the delight of bargain hunters, has seen a growing demand since 2009 for discount funerals, defined by the industry as costing under 1,200 euros ($1,700).
Just over a quarter of all German funerals are expected to be of the cut-price variety this year, according to burials’ specialist Web site, Bestattungen.de, up from 16 percent two years ago and 20 percent in 2010.
“Some people find themselves obliged by law to bury their father with whom they have not had any contact for 20 years,” Hartmut Woite, head of the Berlin-based company Sargdiscount, or Coffindiscount, told AFP..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20111106com3.html
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