The Leidzirkular: what goes into a Swiss funeral announcement and how to send it

A Leidzirkular is a printed announcement of a death that the family sends by post to a chosen circle: relatives, friends, neighbours, clubs, employers. The term is typical of German-speaking Switzerland; in French-speaking Switzerland it is a faire-part de décès. A Leidzirkular announces the death and at the same time invites people to the funeral service (Abdankung).

This guide explains how it differs from the newspaper death notice and the thank-you card, what the phrase “gilt als Leidzirkular” means, how a Leidzirkular is structured and how to make sure it arrives in time. The wording examples further down are templates with placeholders, with no real people's details.

Leidzirkular, death notice, thank-you card: the difference

The three printed items have different jobs and arrive at different times:

• Death notice (Todesanzeige) — appears in the newspaper or online and informs the local public. The family does not choose who reads it
• Leidzirkular — is posted to people you want to inform personally. It is sent before the funeral and also serves as the invitation to the service
• Thank-you card (Danksagung) — follows the service, as a card or a newspaper notice. It thanks people for their sympathy, flowers, donations and support; according to trauerportal.ch it is usually sent within two to three weeks of the service

In everyday speech, death notice and Leidzirkular are often used interchangeably. There is a reason: according to the Swiss association of funeral services, the content and wording of a Leidzirkular are usually identical to the text of the newspaper notice.

One funeral director therefore recommends writing the Leidzirkular text first. The shorter newspaper version can then be derived from it to save space.

Separate from both is the official funeral notice. Many municipalities publish personal details and the time and place of the service; Wetzikon (ZH), for example, does so in its official gazettes. This notice is brief and does not reach everyone the family wants to tell personally. Some newspapers also offer a short listing with name, place, date of death, age and date of the service.

What “gilt als Leidzirkular” means

Some death notices end with the line “Gilt als Leidzirkular” (“serves as the Leidzirkular”). It means the family is not sending personal letters. Anyone who reads the notice is informed and invited, just as if they had received a Leidzirkular. In French-speaking notices the equivalent is “Cet avis tient lieu de faire-part”.

In this case the newspaper notice replaces the postal letters. It happens when addresses are missing, the time before the service is very short or the circle would be too large. For acquaintances this means: do not wait for a letter, and do not take it personally if none arrives.

Families who do not want to miss anyone do both. The Zürcher Kantonalbank's form for funeral wishes asks separately about a death notice and a Leidzirkular and suggests enclosing an address list.

A Leidzirkular also saves the family many phone calls. A funeral director in the Solothurn region points out that a phone call often takes longer than addressing an envelope, and that details of time and place passed on by word of mouth are easily misunderstood.

Content and structure

There are no fixed rules. An order that works well, suggested in similar form by Swiss funeral directors and portals, is:

• Heading and quotation — often “Todesanzeige” or “Abschied” (farewell), with a quotation, a verse or a poem
• Opening — who is saying goodbye and their relationship to the person who died
• Name and dates — first name, surname, maiden name where relevant, dates of birth and death with the month written out
• Personal line — optional, for example where and how the person died
• The family — the names of the bereaved, usually in order of closeness
• Address for condolences (Traueradresse) — an address where sympathy cards can be sent
• Invitation — date, time and place of the service, the burial and, where relevant, the viewing
• Flowers and donations — for example an organisation to support instead of flowers, with account details and a reference

A funeral meal is mentioned in the text if everyone is invited. If only some recipients are invited, a separate card is enclosed; more in The funeral reception.

Wording templates

The following lines are examples. Replace the details in square brackets and choose one variant per part that suits the person and the family. Most families write the Leidzirkular in the local language; the English is given here as a guide:

• Opening, simple — “With love and gratitude we say goodbye to [first name surname].”
• Opening, after a long illness — “After a long illness borne with great patience, [first name] passed away peacefully.”
• Opening, unexpected — “[First name surname] has left us quite unexpectedly.”
• Dates — “[day] [month written out] [year] – [day] [month written out] [year]”
• Family — “In loving memory: [name of partner], [names of children and their families], [other relatives]”
• Invitation — “The funeral service will be held on [weekday], [date], at [time] in [church or funeral hall], [place], followed by the urn burial at [name] cemetery.”
• Closest circle — “The burial will take place in the closest family circle.”
• Donation — “Instead of flowers, please remember [organisation], [IBAN], reference [name].”
• Address — “Address for condolences: [name], [street no.], [postcode town]”

Religious verses, secular quotations or a sentence from the person who died are all equally possible. If part of the family lives abroad or speaks another language, the text can be set in two languages.

Printing, posting and timing

Most families have the Leidzirkular printed through the funeral director. The usual form is a card or a folded double sheet with a matching envelope. One Swiss funeral director gives a double sheet of 180 × 225 mm (open) and an envelope of 189 × 120 mm as its Leidzirkular format, alongside the C5 and C6 sizes.

It can still be quick. A funeral director in Bern says it usually needs only a few hours for the death notice and the Leidzirkular, weekends included. These steps help:

• Start the address list early — address book, Christmas cards, club lists. If you have an Excel spreadsheet, the funeral director can address, stamp and post the envelopes
• Envelopes first — with pre-printed designs, the envelopes are often available straight away; you can address them while the Leidzirkular is being printed
• Proof before printing — you receive a draft, often by email, and approve it only after checking it. On request, the addresses can be printed directly on the envelopes
• Traditional mark — two lines on the left edge of the envelope traditionally mark it as a death announcement
• Printing it yourself — possible, at home or at a copy shop, on good paper with a matching envelope
• Keep a few copies back — for people who only hear of the death later

Timing is everything: the Leidzirkular must reach people before the service, or it misses its purpose. There are often only a few days until the service; the time limits are explained in Funerals in Switzerland. As a guide, the newspaper notice should appear two to three days before the service.

If the letters are sent only after a service in the closest family circle, the text should say so, for example: “The funeral service took place in the closest family circle.” The Leidzirkular is then a notification, no longer an invitation.

Digital options

Alongside the letter, many families now also share the news digitally. A funeral director in the Solothurn region notes that the announcement can also be sent by email if the addresses are available. Death notices also appear on the newspapers' online notice pages.

• PDF by email — the same text and design as the printed Leidzirkular; useful for recipients abroad, where post takes too long
• Group chat message — fast but informal; better for the close circle, who already know
• Online memorial page — with the details of the service, often with a book of condolences and photos

There is no rule. People who do not use email will hear nothing that way, so many families combine post and email. If you receive a Leidzirkular and want to respond, see Offering condolences.

If you would like us to handle the Leidzirkular

We write the text with you, have it printed and, on request, take care of addressing and posting; more under Death notice. What happens at the service itself is described in The Swiss funeral service.