Caskets in Color

It's the color of mourning, the color of sorrow, the color of melancholy: black. And since entering that final sleep is generally not seen as a happy occasion, black has become the color de rigueur for all things funereal.

But some want to change that, and are offering less somber ways to head off into the great beyond. No, morticians in Germany have not begun sporting polka-dotted ties or doing a stand-up routine at the wake, but some are offering coffins that go beyond the traditional oak or pine versions in a highly polished black or grey.

Those who want their final resting place to reflect their own personality can consult artist Christiane Schedelgarn, based in Elmshorn, Germany. She's happy to create a custom coffin that has been decided on by its occupant before he or she left this mortal coil, or if it's too late for that, can speak to survivors to get a good picture of the deceased, and base her design on that.

The possibilities are endless, she said. She's done everything from abstract patterns to realistic subjects. Once she painted a typical Transylvanian scene for a woman from the region who wanted to be laid to rest among the Carpathians.

Schedelgarn will even paint the inside of the coffin, so the one at peace can be surrounded for eternity by forests, ice cream, beautiful women and men, whatever.

Still, going all bright and non-traditional is a hard road for some people. When dealing with death, the tried-and-true still seems to be preferred.

"Change in that area is very slow," said Winfried Koebe, chairman of a German association of independent funeral directors. Of the up to 180 caskets he sells a year, about five are modern.