2009年以來，德國國內對花費在1200歐元以下的折扣葬禮需求量明顯增加。今年，德國超過四分之一的葬禮業務為折扣葬禮，而2009年這一比例為16%。選擇折扣葬禮的人中，多數因為死者是一名遠親，還有人是因為身在異地無法到場處理，41%則是出于經濟原因。在德國，一場標準葬禮大約需要花費2800至3500歐元，如果加上購買墓地和墓地維護等費用，總支出甚至可能翻倍。有人質疑過于廉價的葬禮可能會含有一些隱性消費或者死者遺體可能會遭到不當處理。不過折扣葬禮服務機構則表示，低廉的價格是因為他們批量訂購棺木而且與火葬場長期保持良好的客戶關系。

Just over a quarter of all German funerals are expected to be of the cut-price variety this year, according to burials' specialist website, Bestattungen.de, up from 16 percent two years ago and 20 percent in 2010.

"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 website, 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.

"They do not want to pay thousands of euros, that's understandable. Everything is done by phone, by fax, by mail," he said.

Most people opt for a cut-price funeral because they are burying a distant relative; others choose it because of geographical distance and about 41 percent cite financial reasons, Bestattungen.de said.

A classic funeral in Germany costs on average 2,800 to 3,500 euros, or twice that if the plot and upkeep of the grave are included, according to the German undertakers' federation.

But at Sargdiscount, they cost from 479 euros, although that is only for orders placed by phone and entails a cremation in the Czech Republic with no ceremony and the ashes buried in a common grave.

"The only thing that bothers my customers is the name of my company," Woite said, adding that he believed he had introduced transparency into a sector that was "too secretive".

Naturally, the trend for discount funerals has its critics.

"It's not a question of transparency," Rolf Lichtner, spokesman for the German undertakers' federation, said.

"Less than 500 euros, that doesn't even cover the costs. Either there are hidden costs, or the body is treated without dignity," he added.

But Patrick Schneider, whose firm Aarau operates across the country and offers funerals in Berlin for 499 euros, hit back, saying: "Dignity has nothing to do with money."

His low prices are down to ordering coffins in the hundreds rather than by the dozen, as well as getting special prices at the crematorium for being a good customer, he said.

Dressed all in black and with a carefully groomed white beard, Schneider organises funerals-to-order for his wealthier customers at a plush, antique-furnished countryside building.

By contrast, business for his 499-euro funerals is conducted at Aarau's spartan premises in Berlin where the only splash of colour can be found in a catalogue of urns laid on the table.

"The quest for the cheap, the easy, what can be thrown away, now doesn't exclude burials," Dagmar Haenel, an anthropologist at the University of Bonn, commented.

"At the same time we also have a rise in very individualised burials, sometimes very costly" by rich and educated people, she said.

"When it comes to funerals, the struggle of the classes is gaining ground."

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(Agencies)

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen ）