Saarburg, Grave

In Rome there are sixty known catacombs, and an unknown number of cemeteries, where millions of people have been buried over the centuries. Under Paris, there is a bone collection of 5 to 6 million people, who had been buried here and there above and below Paris. The bone collection fills only a small portion of the 200 miles of caverns, and mine shafts, that lie below a major portion of Paris. It became obvious centuries ago, that if the dead are to be buried in a public place and never be moved, soon there would be no more room for the living.

In the cemetery in Mettlach there is a time limit for a person to remain buried, and about 50 years after their death, Emmy’s Aunt (her father's sister) and Uncle's graves, have already been reused. The large, very ornate grave in this photo in the town of Saarburg (where Emmy's father was born), displays a sign posted by the authorities, that says the grave will be removed if someone does not clean it up, and return it to perfect condition within a certain time limit.

Since the name on the stone was “Mungenast,” (Emmy’s father's name), we tried to find who might be buried there, in case it was an ancestor. But we could find no one who knew.