The “Krone” accompanied the undertaker Heini Altbart for a day. The hobby drummer complains about staffing problems and shows that the daily work is not all sad.
Many people take a tour of the cemetery on All Saints’ Day. Funeral director Heini Altbart, on the other hand, is in cemeteries almost every day. “I spent my childhood there,” says the 50-year-old, whom we meet on a warm October day at the Südwestfriedhof.
Heini is the third generation undertaker in Vienna. “We do funerals all over Austria, but especially in Vienna,” he says.
On average, 40 funerals per week are provided by Altbart Bestattung. During the preparation of this, we can look over the shoulder of him and his employees. On the one hand, there are the decorations and beautiful bouquets of flowers that have to be set up. The box is then removed from the cold store.
After the funeral, the coffin is carried to the grave. It takes a lot of muscle strength, because the empty box weighs about 100 kilos. Women are therefore rarely found in this field. The Altbart funeral is an exception, as four female field service planners work here. “It only gets complicated when we have to get the dead from apartments on the higher floors and the next of kin state that the deceased weighs 80 kilos, when in reality it is 200 kilos,” says Heini.
And you don’t even have to bear the sight of the dead. “There are plenty of other tasks,” says the boss. And yet he is constantly looking for staff. Currently, more than 20 employees work in the office and in the field. But there could be more. “Especially now, with a lot of people getting sick, it’s getting tight,” says the father of two. It doesn’t even require special training. Empathy is important, the rest you can learn. “The problem is that most people think it’s sad to be a funeral director, but we’re all too shy for it,” Heini said.
But of course there are days when the sadness is not so easy to shake off. “Children’s funerals are especially bad,” says the experienced funeral director. Heini finds a balance in his job in music. He is an enthusiastic drummer and regularly appears on stage. In general, Heini is a cheerful person: “As a funeral director you are reminded every day how valuable life is.”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
