At the end of life, the soul departs from the body into eternity. The Protestant pastor of the Lauterhofen parish, Helmut Gerstner, sees this moment in the sculpture that today forms the heart of the newly opened urn community facility at the Lauterhofen cemetery.
At the end of life, the soul departs from the body into eternity. Helmut Gerstner, the Protestant pastor of the Lauterhofen parish, sees this moment in the sculpture that today forms the heart of the newly opened urn communal area in the Lauterhofen cemetery. It is almost impossible to capture the transition from life to death in words. Our sculpture of the month for March 2016 stands for a constructive confrontation with human finiteness, an accompaniment in mourning and a sense of the questions about an intangible afterlife.
Funeral culture today often goes hand in hand with anonymous, low-maintenance urn graves. Although there is also a trend towards individual grave markers, it cannot be denied that the field of activity of stonemasons is changing fundamentally with the transformation of the cemetery. This is nothing new. What is exciting is the different ways in which these cultural development processes are being responded to. There are many positive examples of stonemasons applying their skills to new concepts for the cemetery. They do not resign themselves, they react, design and implement.
Julia Dietrich is a woman of action. The master stonemason and stone sculptor from Reitelshofen in the Upper Palatinate, who currently lives in Munich, sees change not only as a slump in the market for gravestones, but also as an opportunity to help shape the cemetery of the future. For her, the contemporary cemetery is a place that provides space for mourning, but also reflects the diverse culture of our time – and not in a pessimistic sense. Culture should be cultivated! For the designer, the urn communal facility in Lauterhofen should be a place of value – not a run-of-the-mill urn wall. Every visitor to the cemetery could create an individual connection to the memorial site.
The site consists of a spiral-shaped bed – a symbol of the path of life on earth. The limestone sculpture stands centrally at the end of the path. Graphically comparable to an ECG line, which pulsates in life and rests in death, it builds up rhythmically from bottom to top. The last beats of the heart rate finally come to rest in the direction of the sky. The trials and tribulations of life lead to clarity and complete unity with God or nature or whatever everyone imagines the afterlife to be.
Dietrich developed the concept in uncertainty as to whether it would be realized at all. She suggested to the municipality, which had a need for new urn burial sites, that a design plan be drawn up as part of her final thesis. The plan was reviewed by the local council and ultimately approved. Planned and done. When working on her masterpiece made of portobello limestone, she first approached the form by removing the bosses from each of the four sides with the help of an angle grinder, a pneumatic hammer and pointed and toothed chisels. The sculpture was then erected. Julia Dietrich pulled the surface together while standing (toothed irons, grinding stones, files) and finally removed any excess material.
Today, her masterpiece stands in the cemetery – in the place where it was meant to be. Julia Dietrich knew this right from the start. The artist was only satisfied with her work and its impact once the sculpture had been moved to its intended location. “I put a lot of heart and soul into my projects, always with the risk of being disappointed in myself,” she says. “Such tasks involve a long process in which I can learn a lot about myself, my work and my skills – that’s priceless! I also have to think about that when I see my masterpiece standing there now.”
Her contribution to cemetery culture shows a viable future for the stonemasonry trade. The focus should be on good craftsmanship and quality. Selling cheap products from other countries is not an option for Dietrich. “We lose face that way, don’t we? And actually betray ourselves as craftsmen and, above all, as people,” Dietrich emphasizes her convictions. The youthful strength of her words and actions is reflected in her work. And that is precisely what is not out of place in today’s cemetery, but important: joie de vivre and openness to new things! Because death is not only associated with the mourning of the deceased, but also with the celebration of their lives and of life and its manifestations in general.
Find out more about the artist here. Our insider tip: On April 16, 2016, you can get a closer look at Julia Dietrich and her work in the documentary series “Zwischen Spessart und Karwendel” on Bavarian television.
