New replacement crematorium for eastern cemetery Munich

The new replacement building for the crematorium and the rearranged outdoor facilities complement the listed basilica of Hans Grässel's funeral home to form a new ensemble.



The vegetation structures characterize the open spaces and are reflected in the planning area: the poplar avenue on the eastern access road and the Norway maple avenue on the main path west of the funeral hall complement the special spatial framework with loose deciduous tree solitaires in the lawn fields.



Visitors enter the crematorium via the entrance courtyard with its meditation garden, which offers a special atmosphere of tranquillity as a place to arrive and meditate. On the rear eastern side, the existing parking lot and service yard had to be extended in order to cope with the higher capacity utilization.



The new building and the associated reorganization of the open spaces required major interventions in the existing trees and shrubs, which were compensated for in accordance with an accompanying landscape conservation plan that was drawn up in parallel.

The challenge was to ensure the undisturbed operation of the facility even during the construction work on the new building and the outdoor facilities, as the existing cremation facility could only be demolished after the new replacement building had been constructed.