Cemetery and burial fees should cover costs

In order to maintain the cemeteries as well-maintained, accessible places of mourning and remembrance, the city council has adopted a new set of fees. The new fees will come into force on January 1, 2026.

As fee-financed public facilities, the ten municipal cemeteries will be largely self-supporting in future. However, the cost recovery rate in 2024 was only around 60 percent. In order to avoid large jumps in the future, the city plans to review and adjust the fees at regular intervals - approximately every three years.

Review of the previous fees

An audit by the Bavarian Municipal Auditing Association had shown that there had previously been no legally prescribed calculation of the fee requirements in accordance with the Municipal Tax Act. The Bavarian Municipal Auditing Association therefore recommended recalculating the fee requirements and adjusting them, particularly for funeral services.

New fees

The new grave usage fees take into account factors such as

• the number of grave spaces
• the amount of care required and
• the contribution of the grave design to the overall site.

The area of the graves now only plays a subordinate role. One reason for the increase is that many fees - for example for burial and urn graves - have remained unchanged since 1994. For example, the annual fee for a family grave with two spaces has risen from 31 euros to 103 euros (Nuremberg: 138 euros). For a family grave with six places, the fee increases from 84 euros to 141 euros (Nuremberg: 509 euros).

Increased personnel and material costs are also taken into account for burial services. Digging and filling a grave for a burial will cost 790 euros from 2026 (previously 450 euros, Nuremberg: 1,390 euros). For an urn burial, the fee will increase slightly from 155 euros to 163 euros (Nuremberg: 244 euros).

For all grave usage rights acquired before January 1, 2026 or extended after the end of the usage period, the previous fees will remain in place until the end of the usage period.