Moving a deceased person or an urn to another city or another federal state in Germany requires a funeral director to carry out the transport, the medical death certificate (Todesbescheinigung) and confirmation from the cemetery at the place of burial. Whether a coffin or an urn is transported depends on whether the family has chosen burial or cremation. Each federal state sets its own deadlines and rules for urns. This guide explains how the process works, which documents are needed and what the cost depends on.
When a transfer to another city is needed
The place of death and the place where the family wants to say goodbye are often far apart. Typical situations include:
- death in a hospital, rehabilitation clinic or hospice in another city;
- death in a care home close to the children, while the family grave is where the person used to live;
- a funeral in another city because the spouse is buried there or the relatives now live there;
- death while travelling, for example on a visit or a holiday within Germany.
In all these cases the funeral remains a domestic matter, even if a state border is crossed on the way. How we organise these journeys is described on our page Transport of the deceased within Germany. What to do immediately after a death is covered in the guide “Death at home, in hospital or in a care home in Germany”.
Coffin or urn: what is transported
If the family wants a burial in another city, the deceased is taken there in a closed coffin in a funeral vehicle. For a cremation, the body is usually cremated at a crematorium near the place of death and the urn is transported afterwards. It is also possible to take the coffin to a crematorium near the destination, for example if a service with the coffin is planned there.
| Coffin transfer | Urn transfer | |
|---|---|---|
| Type of funeral | burial or cremation at the destination | cremation, urn burial at the destination |
| Transport | funeral vehicle with closed coffin | by the funeral director, sealed urn |
| Time pressure | high: the state burial deadline runs from the time of death | lower: longer deadlines apply to burying the urn |
| Additional documents | death certificate, civil registration, release if required | also second post-mortem examination and cremation certificate |
| Farewell at the coffin at the destination | yes | only before cremation, usually at the place of death |
Which option suits the family is often also a matter of faith and tradition. A comparison is given in the guide “Coffin or urn: cost, timing and faith”.
The process step by step
- First conversation. You tell us where the deceased is, where the funeral should take place and which type of funeral is planned. You receive a written fixed price for your route within a few hours.
- Collection. As soon as the death certificate has been issued, we collect the deceased, usually on the same day. Until the transfer, the deceased is kept refrigerated.
- Register office. The death is registered at the register office (Standesamt) where it occurred. With your power of attorney, we handle this and apply for the civil death certificate (Sterbeurkunde).
- For a cremation. State law requires a second medical examination before every cremation. The crematorium then carries out the cremation and issues the cremation certificate.
- Cemetery at the destination. We agree the grave and date with the cemetery administration or the local funeral director and obtain confirmation of the burial.
- Transfer and handover. The coffin or urn is taken to the destination and handed over to the cemetery or the local funeral director. We let you know when the handover has taken place.
Which documents are needed
- Medical death certificate (Todesbescheinigung) from the doctor who examined the deceased. It accompanies the deceased during the transfer.
- Civil death certificate (Sterbeurkunde) from the register office. This requires the deceased’s ID and, depending on marital status, birth, marriage or divorce certificate.
- Cremation certificate (Einäscherungsbescheinigung) if an urn is transferred.
- Confirmation of the place of burial from the cemetery or funeral director at the destination, and for an existing family grave, proof of the right of use.
- Release by the public prosecutor if the death was not natural or the cause is unclear. More on this in the guide “Why the body is not released”.
A corpse passport (Leichenpass) is not required for a transfer within the same federal state. If the route leads into another state, one may be required if the destination state or a state on the way requires it. We clarify this with the authority before the journey. An overview of all papers needed after a death is given in the guide “Which documents are needed when someone dies?”.
Burial deadlines: what applies in each federal state
Funeral law in Germany is a matter for the federal states. Each state decides how soon a burial or cremation may take place at the earliest, by when it must take place at the latest, and by when the urn must be buried. For a transfer, the law of the place of death applies first. Some examples based on the current legislation:
| Federal state | Deadline for burial or cremation | Particulars |
|---|---|---|
| North Rhine-Westphalia | within ten days | burial no earlier than 24 hours after death; urn to be buried within six weeks |
| Bavaria | no later than eight days after death is established | Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays are not counted; for a transfer, the deceased must be on the way within the deadline; urn to be buried no later than three months after cremation |
| Baden-Württemberg | within 96 hours, unless the deceased is laid out in a mortuary (Leichenhalle) | burial no earlier than 48 hours after death |
| Hesse | no later than ten days | since October 2025; previously 96 hours |
The authorities can extend deadlines on application, for example if documents are missing or the cemetery has no earlier date. The other states have their own rules. Because overviews online are sometimes out of date, as the example of Hesse shows, we check the current version of the law in every case. The basics are explained in the guide “Funerals in Germany: burial and cremation”.
The urn: what state law allows
In Germany the duty of burial also applies to ashes. Whether the crematorium may hand the urn to relatives is again decided by each state. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the crematorium may hand the sealed urn to the bereaved or their representatives for transport; they must prove to the crematorium within six weeks that the urn has been properly buried.
According to the overview by the consumer association Aeternitas (as of March 2026), Bremen, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia also allow the urn to be handed over under conditions, for example against confirmation from the cemetery that the burial is secured. In Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Hamburg, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, the urn is as a rule released only to a cemetery or a funeral director. In Baden-Württemberg, transporting the urn is also the funeral director’s task.
So it matters in which state the cremation takes place and where the urn will be buried. In addition, Deutsche Post and DHL stopped shipping urns, both within Germany and internationally, on 1 October 2025. We therefore collect the urn directly from the crematorium, take it to the cemetery at the destination and make sure proof of burial is provided.
Burial where the family lives
Many families want the grave close to where they live so that they can visit and look after it. This is possible in principle. At municipal cemeteries, residents of the municipality have the primary right to a grave; the cemetery administration decides on the burial of non-residents according to its regulations, sometimes at different fees. If a family grave with a right of use already exists, the burial is usually straightforward.
Before the transfer, it is therefore worth checking whether the chosen cemetery agrees and whether it offers burial or urn burial, including in religious sections. We take care of this for you. More on cremation can be found on our page Cremation and on the different options on Types of funeral.
What transport within Germany costs
There is no flat rate, because every route is different. The cost depends mainly on the following:
- route: the distance between the place of death and the place of burial, including the vehicle’s return journey;
- coffin or urn: a coffin needs a funeral vehicle and usually two staff, an urn is much easier to transport;
- waiting times: for example for the release, the second examination, or a date at the crematorium or cemetery, including refrigeration during that time;
- weekends, public holidays and night hours: collections and handovers outside normal hours involve more effort;
- third-party fees: register office, second examination, crematorium and cemetery charge according to their own fee schedules.
You receive a written fixed price for your route within a few hours, covering collection, documents and transport up to the handover at the destination. More about our service on the page Transport of the deceased within Germany. Whether part of the costs can be claimed against tax is explained in the guide “Which costs after a death can be claimed against tax in Germany?”.
Frequently asked questions
Transfer to another city: we take care of the journey
Tell us where the deceased is now and where the burial should take place. We handle documents, deadlines and the cemetery, usually collect on the same day and bring the coffin or urn to its destination. You will receive a call back within the next hour.
- Call back within one hour
- Written fixed price within a few hours
- Around the clock, in four languages
A first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
This text reflects the published regulations as of October 2026 and does not replace legal advice. Deadlines and rules for urns differ by federal state and cemetery regulations and may change.
