Choosing a grave in Helsinki

The right to a grave

Under the Funeral Act the Evangelical Lutheran parish or parish union must provide a grave to everyone whose home municipality was in its area, regardless of whether the deceased belonged to the church. Parish cemeteries are general cemeteries. On request the grave must be given from a separate non-denominational area; in Helsinki there is one at Honkanummi cemetery. The law allows a fee for the grave, the burial and grave care of at most the cost of producing the service, and the basis of the fee must be the same for everyone entitled to be buried in the same cemetery. Church membership therefore does not affect the price of the grave or the burial; the home municipality does. Membership shows only in the chapel rent: a non-member pays 400 euros on weekdays and 630 euros on Saturdays for the chapels of the Helsinki cemeteries, a member nothing. War veterans may be exempted from fees.

The cemeteries of Helsinki

The Helsinki parish union maintains several cemeteries, and the burial services tell you where places are currently free for the form of grave you want. New urn graves are given from Malmi, Honkanummi, Maunula and Östersundom. Hietaniemi is the oldest and best known, but urn graves there free up for Helsinki residents only occasionally. Kulosaari cemetery is primarily for members of Kulosaari parish. The parish union crematoria are at Malmi and Honkanummi; the Hietaniemi crematorium is run by Krematoriosäätiö.

• Hietaniemi cemetery: founded 1829, old chapel 1872, new chapel with columbarium 1933, urn grove 1949; urn graves free up occasionally
• Malmi cemetery: new urn graves, a parish union crematorium
• Honkanummi cemetery: new urn graves, a non-denominational area, a parish union crematorium
• Maunula urn grove: new urn graves, an anonymous memorial grove and a scattering area
• Östersundom cemetery: new urn graves
• Kulosaari cemetery: primarily for members of Kulosaari parish

Coffin grave

A coffin burial means the deceased is buried in the ground in a coffin without cremation. A new coffin grave costs a Helsinki resident 690 euros, and new coffin graves are given only to those whose home municipality was Helsinki. A non-resident can be buried in a coffin in Helsinki only in a family grave with a grave right and space. Urns can later be buried in a coffin grave too, so it often serves the whole family. The blessing is held in a church or cemetery chapel, and the mourners follow the coffin to the grave; the coffin is usually carried by six bearers, at least four, feet first. A coffin burial involves the memorial's foundation: in some blocks the parish installs a base beam, and in Helsinki 170 euros is charged in blocks with continuous concrete base beams. In Helsinki more than 80 percent of the deceased are cremated, so a coffin burial is a less common choice today, but it remains entirely ordinary and possible. If the deceased wished for a coffin burial, the law requires that wish to be respected.

Urn grave

An urn grave is the cremated deceased's own grave, where several urns can be buried and a memorial erected. A Helsinki resident leases an urn grave for 25 years for 180 euros, and the placing fee, the act of burying the urn, costs 150 euros. The lease can be extended for 7.20 euros per year. In blocks with continuous concrete base beams a further 170 euros is charged. An urn buried in an urn grave must be biodegradable. An urn grave suits a family that wants a place of its own to visit, its own memorial with names and the possibility of later burials in the same grave. In return the grave needs care, for which the grave rights holder is responsible; care can be bought from the parish for a fee. If a grave of your own does not feel necessary, the alternatives are a memorial grove, a scattering area and a columbarium, described in the guide Urn lowering and placing the ashes in Helsinki. For a non-resident the urn grave costs 310 euros and the placing fee 170 euros.

Without a grave of your own: grove, scattering area and columbarium

Not everyone who is cremated needs a grave of their own. In a memorial grove the urn is buried in a common area with the family present, and at the scattering area the verger scatters the ashes without the family; each costs a Helsinki resident 90 euros plus the placing fee of 150 euros. A name plaque on the common memorial can be bought for 170 euros, except in the anonymous groves at Hietaniemi and Maunula, which have no plaque. In the columbarium at Hietaniemi cemetery the urn is placed in its own locker for 25 years for 300 euros, and the urn must be non-biodegradable. A locker in the urn vault of Kallio church costs 250 euros and is offered only to members of the Helsinki parishes. These options have no grave to tend and no memorial of your own, and they suit families who live far away or do not want to commit to grave care.

Lease, extension and the family grave

A grave is leased for a fixed term, in Helsinki 25 years. New perpetual graves are no longer given, but burial in an old perpetual grave may still be possible. The lease can be extended for a fee: 7.20 euros per year for an urn grave and 12 euros per year for the Hietaniemi columbarium. If the family does not want to keep the grave, it returns to the parish, which gives the grave rights holder the chance to remove the memorial. Burial in the family grave is often the most natural solution: burying an urn in an existing family grave costs the placing fee of 150 euros in Helsinki, and no new grave needs to be leased. The grave right is checked with the burial services, and 25 years of the lease must remain at the time of burial; if needed the term is extended at the burial. A non-resident can also be buried in the family grave if they hold the grave right and there is space. The church records keep the details of those buried earlier as well.

The grave rights holder and grave care

The parish needs to know who the grave rights holder is. A person is chosen among the relatives who is responsible for the grave's care and represents the family in matters concerning the grave: that person signs the memorial plan, decides on extending the lease and gives permission for new burials. The holder does not own the grave; the tenure resembles a fixed-term lease. The grave must be cared for: the lawn is cut, wilted flowers, dead leaves and candle waste are removed, and in summer flowers can be planted on the grave. Care can be agreed with the parish or a company that tends graves, and the parish offers various grave care services for a fee. In Espoo lawn care for 25 years is included in the urn grave price at 299 euros; in Helsinki care is bought separately, and the prices are available from the burial services. Already at the planning stage we explain who it makes sense to name as holder and what the role means in practice.

A memorial on the grave

The memorial can be a stone, a cross or a sculpture, and there is no deadline for getting one; nor is it compulsory. In many cemeteries a drawing of the stone with its dimensions must be submitted to the parish for approval before it is made, and approval requires that the invoices for the grave have been paid. Under the rules of the Espoo parish union a new memorial may be brought to the grave between 1 June and 31 October once three months have passed since the burial, and deliveries take place on weekdays between 8 and 14.30; we check the Helsinki practice with the burial services case by case. In a memorial grove and at the scattering area there is no memorial of your own, but a name plaque can be bought for the common memorial. A grey granite stone costs from 510 euros through our partner stonemason. We handle the memorial plan, the order, the delivery and the installation for you. More in the guide Gravestone and memorial.

Options for a non-resident

If the deceased's home municipality was not Helsinki, no new coffin grave is available in Helsinki, but a cremated person has several options. The prices for a non-resident are higher: cremation at a parish union crematorium 500 euros, the placing fee 170 euros, an urn grave 310 euros, a memorial grove or scattering area 150 euros and the Hietaniemi columbarium 610 euros. A Vantaa resident is cremated at Honkanummi at the Helsinki resident price of 260 euros, and the Hietaniemi crematorium run by Krematoriosäätiö charges everyone the same base fee of 320 euros regardless of home municipality. A non-resident can also be buried in a family grave in Helsinki if the grave right and space exist. Another route is cremation in Helsinki and placing the ashes in the home municipality's parish cemetery, in which case the grave follows the home municipality's price list; we handle the contact there and the urn's transport. We explain the effect of the home municipality on the price in advance, before anything is binding.

How the booking proceeds and what we handle

The grave is booked with the Helsinki parish union's burial services by phone or in person, and a funeral home can be authorised to make the booking. A Helsinki resident can also book the blessing time online at asiointi.helsinginseurakunnat.fi, but not the burial. Before a cremation the burial services need a copy of the burial permit signed by the doctor. A new grave is given only in connection with a death, not in advance; in Espoo a viewing of the plot is booked at least one and a half weeks before the burial, and in Helsinki we arrange a viewing with the burial services if you want to see the place before deciding. Once the funeral is entrusted to us, we handle everything: we check the family grave's grave right, book the grave, the chapel and the time, deliver the burial permit, explain the parish union's fees in advance and pass them on to you as they are, without a margin. Call 09 6129 890 or book a planning visit at Annankatu 12; the visit is free of charge. Everything can also be handled by phone or online in the family's shared space, where every relative sees the same options, prices and schedule.

Frequently asked questions