MEISSEN, Germany (AP) – The coffins are piled high in the dark memorial hall of the Meissen crematorium, stacked in empty offices and stored in hallways. Many are sealed with plastic packaging, others are labeled “risk of infection”, “urgent” or simply “COVID”.
A wave of coronavirus deaths in this corner of eastern Germany has boosted the business of crematorium manager Joerg Schaldach and his team, but no one is celebrating.
“The situation is a little tense for us at the moment,” said Schaldach as another funeral director’s van pulled up outside.
The crematorium would normally have 70 to 100 coffins on site at this time of year, when the flu season affects the elderly.
“It is normal for more people to die in winter than in summer,” said Schaldach. “That has always been the case.”
Now it has 300 bodies waiting to be cremated, and dozens more are delivered each day to the modernist building on a hill overlooking Meissen, an ancient city best known for its delicate porcelain and impressive Gothic castle.
On Monday, Meissen County once again took the unwanted lead in Germany’s COVID-19 tables, with an infection rate three times the national average. The state of Saxony, where Meissen is located, includes six of the ten most affected counties in Germany.
Schaldach says the crematorium is doing its best to meet demand, turning on double ovens every 45 minutes and managing 60 cremations a day.
“The ashes are still going to the right urn,” he said.
But while the team would normally try to ensure that the deceased would look good for relatives to say their final goodbyes, the infection rules now mean that the coffins of COVID victims must remain closed at all times, making the whole process even more difficult for them. those involved.
“It is our problem, we have seen death many, many times,” said Schaldach. “The problem we see is that bereaved relatives need our help. And, at the moment, there is a greater need for words of comfort, because they delivered their deceased loved one to the ambulance and never saw them again ”.
Some linked Saxony’s high infection rate to a broader anti-government sentiment in a state where more than a quarter voted for the far-right Alternative party for Germany in the last national election. Its legislators opposed the need to use masks, the limit on the concentration of people and the closing of stores. Some have even openly denied the existence of a pandemic.
Other commentators noted the large number of elderly people in the state and their dependence on workers in nursing homes in the neighboring Czech Republic, where COVID-19 infections are even greater.
Officials in Meissen, including the head of county administration, the local doctors’ association and the legislator who represents the region in parliament, an ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, all refused to be interviewed about the situation.
Saxony’s governor, Michael Kretschmer, acknowledged in a recent interview with the newspaper Freie Presse that he underestimated the impact of the pandemic on his state and paid close attention to those calling for businesses and schools to remain open.
A video showing Kretschmer talking to anti-lockdown protesters outside his home on Sunday ends with him walking away after a person put on a mask made to look like the German Imperial War Flag, a symbol favored by far-right extremists.
Schaldach, the crematorium manager, says that most people in Saxony accept the rules. But he also read comments in social media brand reports about bodies huddled in his crematorium as fake news.
“Those who believe in conspiracy theories cannot be helped. We don’t want to debate with them, ”he told the Associated Press. “They have their beliefs and we have our knowledge.”
In Meissen, the streets are empty, without the usual tourists or even the hustle and bustle of the locals.
Franziska Schlieter runs a gourmet food store in the historic center of the city that is among the few that can remain open amid the blockade. His store, run by five generations of his family, is supported by a stream of regular customers buying lottery cards and gift baskets.
“In the Bible, God sends plagues to people when they don’t behave,” said Schlieter, who feels that lowering the block during Christmas was a mistake. “Sometimes I have to think about it.”
In the cobbled square, Matthias Huth takes care of a lone food truck outside his closed restaurant. He defends those who questioned the government’s restrictions on COVID-19, but says skepticism should not justify denial.
“Conversations are starting to change,” said Huth as he served a plate of chopped blood sausage, sauerkraut and puree known locally as ‘Grandma Dead’. “Everyone wants this to end.”
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Kerstin Sopke contributed to this report.
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