Retirement wave

Fewer and fewer morticians in Carinthia

More and more morticians are resigning.

(Bild: Uta Rojsek-Wiedergut)

Entrepreneur in the Lieser-Malta Valley retires after 40 years. The valley is now without a permanent mortician.

The morticians have to be available around the clock. A job that is extraordinary, physically and mentally demanding and by no means easy," explains Walter Egger, guild master of Carinthian morticians.

Fewer and fewer people want to work
And like some other sectors, the funeral industry is also struggling with a shortage of employees. Egger: "Hardly anyone wants to work at weekends in particular, when most funerals take place on Fridays and Saturdays."

A wave of retirements, as is currently the case in the Lieser-Malta Valley, is causing additional problems. "I'm retiring after 40 years," announced funeral director Rainer Luxenberger. And he reaps praise from Egger: "For him, vacations were probably a foreign word. He was available around the clock, 365 days a year. Thank you for that!"

No successor
A successor could not be found for the 60-year-old. And so the valley is currently without its own funeral service. The service will probably be taken over by the municipal funeral service in Spittal. "But that's not fixed yet. We have to work everything out first," emphasizes Mayor Gerhard Köfer. After all, funerals are also a local authority matter.

In the past ten years, the master of the guild has recorded four closures. "Vacant areas are taken over by other funeral homes, which means business growth for them. There have been no new start-ups in the last 15 years," regrets Egger.