Funeral Association in the Czech Republic - new National FIAT-IFTA Member

By Renáta Březinová, Director of Sdružení pohřebnictví v ČR (Funeral Association in the Czech Republic)

Sdružení pohřebnictví v ČR (Funeral Association in the Czech Republic) is the oldest and by far the largest professional organization of funeral operatives in the Czech Republic. It came into being in 1990 – in challenging times that followed the end of the communist era. During more than four decades of totalitarian regime, the funeral profession in Czechoslovakia lost much of its previous glory: not only was it severely hit by communist materialism and suppression of almost all manifestations of religious life but – as private entrepreneurship was not allowed – all the funeral services had to be run by municipalities and local authorities as “communal services”: as a result, most funeral services (not all, fortunately) became critically underfunded and thus neglected and underdeveloped – also jobs in the funeral profession and cemetery management were not well paid and definitely were not awarded much prestige or societal recognition.

In 1989, political and ideological limitations ended and thanks to the newly achieved freedom, many professions started to revive their roots and traditions, family businesses started to flourish and the number of funeral directors – and the quality of services offered to bereaved families – started to grow. Our Association set as its goal to support this growth and improve the quality of funeral services throughout the country. Since the very beginning, we worked out a Code of Ethics that our members had to strictly adhere to.

In 1993, the Czechoslovak Federation was split into two independent republics: the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The Czech Republic, sometimes referred to as Czechia, has a population of approximately 10 million inhabitants living across an area of 78,866 square kilometres. Approximately 110,000 people die every year, with cremation being the most common type of funeral. Cremation has been rather popular even since the pre-war years (the first Czechoslovak crematoriums started to be built as soon as the first Czechoslovak Republic was formed after the collapse of Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918): as of today, there are 28 crematoriums in Czechia. In larger cities, over 95% of deceased individuals are cremated. Nationwide, the cremation rate is approximately 83%. We have no exact statistics, but the number of burials without ceremony is relatively high in the Czech Republic. There are about 6,000 burial grounds in our country – this includes both the public and non-public grounds, where non-public means serving (or having served) solely to a closed religious community.

Having mentioned that Sdružení pohřebnictví is the largest professional association of funeral operatives in the Czech Republic (150 active funeral operatives are registered as our members – there are 400 license holders in our country but the number of functional funeral companies is actually lower), we have to add that there are two more funeral associations in the Czech Republic. They are relatively small, but it is difficult to get exact figures as neither of the two organizations makes the number of their members public: the Association of Private Funeral Services (Asociace soukromých pohřebních služeb, est. 2010), and the Union of the Funeral Services (est. 2016).

Today, the funeral profession is relatively flourishing. The quality of funeral services still varies: there are top notch companies offering the best of the trade and sensitively responding to what bereaved families wish and need, and there also are funeral directors whose performance is still very rigid, often unethical, and in general unresponsive to what is expected from a good funeral operative.

Our association aims to distinguish the good ones and promote continual improvements of its members. One way we do this is through an award we introduced in 1997 called “Znak kvality” (Hallmark of Quality) bestowed to those directors who do – on a long-term basis – meet our organisation’s strict ethical and professional standards. We have also organized several national funeral fairs and established four task forces (permanent working groups) addressing the most pressing issues in the areas of funeral services, cemetery management and cremations; the last task force focuses on miscellaneous problems and areas that happen to be relevant at the given moment. We also participate in national legislative debates and our members meet at annual conferences.

Our organisation owes many of its achievements to several remarkable founding members, namely Mr. Ladislav Kopal, our long-term director who died rather unexpectedly last year. For me as his successor on the post of our Association’s director, the position is a real challenge: it is not easy to meet the standards he had set. My personal experience in funeral services started in 2000. I entered Sdružení pohřebnictví v ČR in 2006, working as its regional representative for Central Bohemia since 2011. For many years, I was a member of the organisation's Board, and in 2024 was elected as its first female director. I was appointed a forensic expert in funeral matters in 2010 and a member of the Task Force for Funeral Affairs at the Ministry of Regional Development in 2022. I own and run two funeral homes and operate five ceremonial halls, and am co-owner of a brand new crematorium that was opened in 2021.

As a FIAT-IFTA National Member our goal is to be an active part of the worldwide professional community and to make our national endeavours more connected with what is going on in the world of funeral operatives.

Sdružení pohřebnictví v ČR, z.s.
www.pohrebnictvi.cz
Contact us: info.pohrebnictvi@gmail.com