Repatriation
The question comes up with every quote: “do we really need this coffin?” Yes — and here is why.
The zinc coffin is often the item families understand least. It costs several hundred francs and it cannot be seen: it disappears inside the wooden coffin.
It is not a commercial add-on, though. Without it, no airline will load a coffin.
It is a watertight metal lining, welded shut on site after the body has been placed inside, and then set into a conventional wooden coffin. From the outside nothing distinguishes it from an ordinary coffin.
The welding is done by a professional and confirmed in writing. That confirmation is part of the transport file: without it, no laissez-passer.
The requirement comes from the Berlin Arrangement of 1937 and the Strasbourg Agreement of 1973, carried over into airline regulations. The reasoning is public health: a hermetically sealed container for a journey of several hours in the hold.
So neither the airline nor the funeral director decides this. A provider offering to “do without” is offering something that will be stopped at the airport.
The zinc coffin, the welding and the confirmation are part of our repatriation flat rate. They do not appear as an extra on the final invoice.
For road transport to a neighbouring country, most states do not require a zinc lining. That is one reason the road is often cheaper to Germany, France or Italy.
For an urn the question does not arise: ashes fall outside these rules.
Some destination countries, by contrast, impose additional requirements — a minimum sheet thickness, say, or a double weld. We check this with the consulate before the body is placed in the coffin.
Placing the body in the coffin is final: once welded, the coffin cannot be reopened. A farewell must therefore take place beforehand.
Tell us in the first conversation if you wish to see the person who has died. We arrange the farewell first and weld afterwards — never the other way round.
Questions & answers
Depending on the model and the destination country, several hundred francs including welding and confirmation. With us the amount is part of the flat rate and itemised in the offer.
Only if it meets air transport requirements, which burial coffins rarely do. In practice the transport coffin is a separate coffin.
That depends on the country. Some permit burial as is; others require transfer into a local coffin. The funeral firm on site handles it.
A transport coffin with a zinc lining is likewise mandatory. After years in the ground the original coffin no longer meets the requirements.