Press
Press
Here you will find materials such as press releases and high-resolution photo files on current topics, exhibitions, projects and events for your editorial reporting.
The use of all media-relevant information is free of charge for the purpose of current news reporting. Should you have any questions or require additional material, please feel free to contact us personally.
Please understand that the provided photo files may not be cropped or edited. If you require material for purposes other than reporting, please contact our photo archive.
Furthermore, the images may only be used with full attribution of the image titles, the name of the artist(s) and/or copyright holder(s), and, where applicable, a reference to © Museum für Sepulkralkultur, Kassel, Bildarchiv. The image data is password-protected.
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Archive
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General Information
General press release | Working Group Cemetery and Monument
Press release
Since its founding in 1954, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Friedhof und Denkmal e.V. The leading cultural institution in the field of cemetery and funeral culture in Germany. With over 65 years of experience and a membership structure encompassing a wide range of professions, the association has become a unique, international network and possesses outstanding expertise.
The association's members are active in research and science, garden and landscape planning, gravestone and burial site design, funeral services, cemetery administration, social services, and palliative and hospice care. The association is therefore a competent contact for all questions concerning cemetery, funeral, and mourning culture.
The working group sees itself as a forum for discussing current developments and as a platform for presenting forward-looking projects. It is committed to preserving and protecting traditional forms of cemetery and burial culture where they are integrated into social life as part of cultural identity. The working group focuses on professional groups who are confronted with dying, death, grief, and remembrance in their daily work. For people in these professions, the working group offers consultation and training in various formats.
This includes consultations on the planning and design of cemeteries, the design of gravestones, and questions of cemetery law. The seminars and training courses include, for example, offerings for people in the helping professions, on the practical aspects of burials and customer-oriented interaction with bereaved families, on cemetery and grave site design, and on the conception of cemetery tours. Extensive conferences on topics related to cemetery and funeral culture are held regularly.
The members of the Working Group Cemetery and Monument e. V. are united by their interest in the diverse aspects of sepulchral culture. Motivations for membership in the association include, for example, a commitment to the preservation and care of cultural-historical evidence of sepulchral culture, work on new design concepts, the intention to integrate the association's cultural values into their professional activities, and academic research.
General press release | Zentralinstitut für Sepulkralkultur
Press release
The Zentralinstitut für Sepulkralkultur The institute conducts fundamental research through scientific investigations into historical cemeteries, grave markers, memorials commemorating events and individuals, mourning and burial customs, developments in dealing with dying and death, as well as through the study of emerging trends. Together with the Museum for Sepulchral Culture, the Central Institute is today a recognized research center within the German museum landscape and regularly participates in national and international scientific conferences. It also regularly organizes scientific conferences in cooperation with various partners, such as universities.
It publishes the Kassel Studies on Sepulchral Culture (currently 19 volumes) and the Kassel Manuscripts on Sepulchral Culture, the comprehensive encyclopedia of burial and cemetery culture (five volumes), and is responsible for publishing the journal *Zeitschrift für Sepulkralkultur /Friedhof und Denkmal* (Journal for Sepulchral Culture / Cemetery and Monument). The Central Institute also houses a specialized academic library and a photo and music archive.
General press release | Museum of Sepulchral Culture
Press release (short)
The Museum of Sepulchral Culture has existed as a cultural institution of national importance since 1992. As the world's only institution dedicated exclusively to cultural and scientific standards, it addresses death in all its facets. The term "sepulchral culture" derives from the Latin "sepulcrum," meaning grave or burial site. The term encompasses all forms that have developed in connection with dying, death, burial, mourning, and remembrance: burial and mourning rites and customs, but also artistic perspectives on dying and death. For the past two decades, dying, burial, mourning, and remembrance have been subject to significant changes in practice and public perception. The museum offers unique opportunities to research, contextualize, and communicate these processes.long press release
The Museum of Sepulchral Culture has existed as a cultural institution of national importance since 1992. As the world's only institution committed exclusively to cultural and scientific standards, it addresses death in all its facets. The term "sepulchral culture" derives from the Latin "sepulcrum," meaning grave or burial site. The term encompasses all forms that have developed in connection with dying, death, burial, mourning, and remembrance: burial and mourning rites and customs, but also artistic perspectives on dying and death.
For the past two decades, the practices of dying, burial, mourning, and remembrance have undergone significant changes in both their application and public perception. The museum offers unique opportunities to explore, contextualize, and communicate these processes.
The permanent exhibition presents numerous exhibits from Christian-Western sepulchral culture: last shirts, Grim Reapers, hourglasses, medieval dances of death, artfully painted coffins and skulls, as well as mourning jewelry and hearses. These items primarily belong to everyday and utilitarian culture and document people's strategies for dealing with mortality. Furthermore, the museum offers exemplary insights into the burial rites of various religions and cultures in Germany. The topic of burying migrants in German cemeteries has gained increasing importance in recent years, and this is also reflected in burial culture. Each culture maintains its own distinct burial forms and rituals.
Images for download
All images: © Museum of Sepulchral Culture, Kassel, Image Archive | Photo: Maja Wirkus
Press Review
Whether at home or in the Museum of Sepulchral Culture: lectures or video-based events to bridge the gap during the pandemic are currently popular. Videos, such as those of opening ceremonies, can also be found on certain occasions in the [website/platform name - context needed for accurate translation]. Exhibition and event archive.
Here you will find videos covering a wide range of topics related to the house.
Hessenschau
Smooth stones, rough wood – inscriptions and drawings adorn them: The Kassel Museum for Sepulchral Culture is exhibiting works by Till Müller. The 33-year-old deals with death almost daily – as a stonemason in his parents' business and as an artist.
February 15, 2025
RTL Hessen
Confronting death is never easy, but the Museum of Sepulchral Culture in Kassel offers a unique space to learn about dying, grief, and burial. However, this museum, the only one of its kind in Germany, faces a major challenge: the building is deteriorating and urgently needs renovation!
February 11, 2025
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Hessian Broadcasting
A museum dedicated to death – that's a unique institution in Germany. But the Museum for Sepulchral Culture in Kassel will receive only 20 million euros instead of 33 million for its urgently needed renovation. On top of that, there's the search for temporary accommodation for its unique collection.
8 January 2025
WDR
WDR 5 | Signs of Life
We will all end up somewhere – in an ash capsule by the tree, in the scattering field or classically in a coffin in a double grave with partner, but perhaps also with friends and former life partners: many things are now possible in cemeteries.
August 20, 2023
SAT.1 reports
SAT.1 Hessen, Culture
SAT.1 reports on the exhibition in Kassel in a video report. “When people experience something painful, they need one thing above all: comfort. And that is what an exhibition at the Museum for Sepulchral Culture is now dedicated to. The reasons why people need comfort are manifold: The toddler who falls down. The end of a love affair. An accident.”www.1730live.de)
April 20, 2023
"Celebrating Easter gives me courage"
Evangelical Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck
Kassel. What is celebrated at Easter, why the festival is still important today, and what Easter means to the bishop personally? – Beate Hofmann explores these questions in a video interview. She chose the Museum for Sepulchral Culture in Kassel as a special location for the interview, where the special exhibition “Consolation – Tracing a Human Need” is currently on display.
April 09, 2023You are currently viewing placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that data will be passed on to third parties.
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Funeral rituals
Planet knowledge
Dying and death are unpleasant topics that we prefer to avoid. This is also reflected in our funeral culture. The trend is toward simple burials, often anonymous, with as few follow-up costs and obligations as possible. Coping with grief is often neglected in this process. Planet Wissen asks: How did previous generations and other cultures say goodbye to their deceased? How important is saying goodbye to the dead for those left behind? And what does our treatment of the dead say about ourselves?
March 13, 2023
The orphaned mother
SWR | People
Around 10.000 people take their own lives in Germany every year. Heike Frohnhöfer lost her son Jan seven years ago and continues to fight against exclusion and taboos following suicide. She shows us how she helps herself and others through this difficult time and also visits the exhibition at the Museum for Sepulchral Culture.
05 December 2022You are currently viewing placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that data will be passed on to third parties.
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Transparent medicine
Media Library Hesse
A panel discussion on palliative care and bereavement support with experts Dr. Nina-Kristin Eulitz, Dr. Dirk Pörschmann, Jürgen Dahlfeld, Sabine and Susanne Weingardt, and Dr. Stefan Pollmächer. Dr. Markus Schimmelpfennig moderated the discussion.
28 October 2022You are currently viewing placeholder content from third-party. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that data will be passed on to third parties.
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Lecture by Dr. Dirk Pörschmann
NaSPro Symposium
Dr. Dirk Pörschmann will speak at this year's symposium of the National Suicide Prevention Program Germany about the special exhibition “Suicide – Let's talk about it!” and also about how art can be a vehicle for dealing with suicidality or loss through suicide.
September 05, 2022You are currently viewing placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that data will be passed on to third parties.
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International Symposium
Museum of Sepulchral Culture | University of Kassel
Presentations by international scientists and panelists from various professional and volunteer backgrounds accompanied the day's events, leading to discussions with the audience on different aspects of suicide and suicidality. The conference program can be found in the event archive.
28 January 2022You are currently viewing placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that data will be passed on to third parties.
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“Suicide – Let’s talk about it!” -Death Slam!
Museum of Sepulchral Culture | FUNUS Foundation
DeathSlam is a spoken word competition where participants perform their own texts about death within a set time limit. The audience chooses the winner by enthusiastic applause. On October 01st, 2021, starting at 19 pm, you can watch and listen to eight young slam poets live online.
01 October 2021You are currently viewing placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that data will be passed on to third parties.
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“Suicide – Let’s talk about it!”
APPH Autumn Forum | Museum for Sepulchral Culture
The Academy for Palliative Medicine, Palliative Care and Hospice Work North Hesse (APPH eV) is an association of like-minded individuals who are committed to promoting the hospice philosophy and improving palliative care. In addition to regularly held training and continuing education courses, the association also hosts an annual autumn forum.
September 22, 2021You are currently viewing placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that data will be passed on to third parties.
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Deadline
Lehmbruck Museum | Lehmbruck Lecture Online
The Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg is showing an exhibition of works by the German sculptor Stephan Balkenhol, who also had a solo exhibition at our museum in 2019, until May 23, 2021. Under the title “DEADLINE – Artistic Creation in the Face of Mortality,” our director, Dr. Dirk Pörschmann, will therefore be speaking at the Lehmbruck Museum in April 2021.
October 22, 2020 to May 23, 2021You are currently viewing placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that data will be passed on to third parties.
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Dying in times of Covid-19
Justice and Peace | Discussion
Muslim theologian and junior professor Dr. Muna Tartari, the Secretary General of the German War Graves Commission, Daniela Schily, the social ethicist and Catholic theologian Prof. Dr. Andreas Lob-Hüdepohl and the gerontologist Prof. Dr. Andreas Kruse discussed how the Covid-19 pandemic is changing our lives, our dying and our mourning.
17 November 2020You are currently viewing placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that data will be passed on to third parties.
More informationaudio library
Interviews, podcasts, self-produced content or interesting material from others dealing with the topic of our mortality – here we have current audio recordings about sepulchral culture and the world's only museum for it!
Here you will find audio recordings covering a wide range of topics related to the house.
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DLF Culture
The exhibition “Consolation – Tracing a Human Need” opened on March 31st at the Museum for Sepulchral Culture.
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DLF Culture | Conclusion
The lying-in-state of the former Pope is a subject of debate. Is it disrespectful to display the dead Joseph Ratzinger so publicly? No, says Dirk Pörschmann, director of the Museum for Sepulchral Culture; seeing the body helps with the grieving process.
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WDR 5 | Quarks
Interview with museum director Dr. Dirk Pörschmann about sustainability, the changes in our dealings with death, grief, remembrance, and the like.
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NDR Info | Church on NDR
Radio pastor Susanne Richter interviews Reinhard Lindner: He is a physician, psychotherapist, and one of the chairpersons of the German Society for Suicide Prevention. Why is suicide such a taboo subject in our society? What helps against suicidal thoughts? How can faith help? And: How do you feel as a suicidologist constantly dealing with this difficult topic?
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DLF Culture | In Conversation
Art historian Dirk Pörschmann directs the Museum for Sepulchral Culture in Kassel. The museum features exhibitions on the topic of death, but also hosts dance festivals and children's birthday parties. Currently, there is a special exhibition on the subject of suicide.
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DLF Kultur | Studio 9
Interview about the upcoming exhibition with museum director Dr. Dirk Pörschmann.
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DLF Culture Compressor
Suicide is one of the last remaining taboo subjects in our society. The exhibition "Suicide – let's talk about it" aims to change that. Several artists address the suicides of close relatives in their works.
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DOMRADIO | The Day
Today, September 10th, is World Suicide Prevention Day. To mark the occasion, a new special exhibition on the topic of suicide opens today at the Museum for Sepulchral Culture in Kassel: “SUICIDE – LET'S TALK ABOUT IT!”.
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DLF | For discussion
In 2020, the Federal Constitutional Court struck down the controversial Section 217, which prohibited assisted suicide for commercial purposes and had been part of the Criminal Code since 2015. In 2021/22, we presented an exhibition on the topic of suicide, which also addressed these developments.
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DLF Culture | Conclusion
Deputy Director Gerold Eppler in conversation with Marietta Schwarz
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DLF Culture | Conclusion
A summary of the event of the same name, held on November 17, 2020 (recording available in the media library above) at the Museum for Sepulchral Culture. With Dr. Dirk Pörschmann.Current Press Releases
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