Issuing authority and document: The German passport for the body (Leichenpass) is issued by a local authority; which one depends on the federal state (in Bavaria, the municipality from which the transport starts). The Polish certificate is issued by the Polish consulate in Germany.
Transport: By a specialised vehicle for carrying bodies, or by plane. We agree the route and the handover place in Poland with the family.
Timing: We confirm the timing once we have the documents. The Polish Act provides that the starosta (district head) and the consul issue their documents at the latest within 3 days of the application (Article 14(5) of the Act on Cemeteries and Burial of the Dead); in practice time is also needed for the sanepid's opinion and delivering the originals, and the time needed to deal with matters in the country of death depends on the authorities there.
Price: We will quote the price once we know the details.

The procedure in Germany

Germany signed the Strasbourg Agreement on the Transfer of Corpses but did not ratify it. Transport abroad is governed by the law of the federal state (Bestattungsgesetz). In Bavaria the Leichenpass is issued by the municipality from whose territory the transport begins; in other federal states it may be a different authority.

According to the Polish consulate, before sending an urn it is worth checking with the funeral home or crematorium whether the rules of the given federal state allow the urn to be handed to a private person.

Which consulate in Germany handles your case

Germany has four Polish posts, each with its own district. Berlin covers Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. Hamburg is responsible for Bremen, Lower Saxony, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, Cologne for North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, and Munich for Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria. We work out which consulate to file the documents with.

A death is reported to the registry office (Standesamt) of the place of death. According to the Berlin authority this must be done within three working days, and the report can be filed by a hospital, a funeral home or the family. The consulate takes German documents as originals and keeps copies, so we never send photocopies alone. No appointment is needed, and the fee can be paid in cash or by EC card; credit cards are not accepted. In exceptional cases the starosta's permit can be sent from Poland by email or fax, but only to the consulate where the application is filed.

Documents for the Polish consulate

The Polish consulate in Germany requires the starosta's permit, a copy of the death certificate (Sterbeurkunde) and the Leichenpass, and in the case of ashes the cremation certificate from the crematorium (Einäscherungsbescheinigung). Documents in German do not need to be translated into Polish for this procedure.

On the Polish side two documents are always needed: a permit from the starosta (district head) responsible for the place of burial, and then a certificate from the Polish consul, issued on the basis of that permit and the death certificate (Article 14(4) of the Act on Cemeteries and Burial of the Dead). The same documents are needed for an urn with ashes.

Frequently asked questions

Who issues the Leichenpass?

It depends on the federal state. In Bavaria it is the municipality from which the transport starts; in other federal states it may be a different authority. We establish this in your case.

Can I carry the urn from Germany myself?

The Polish consulate states that ashes in a sealed urn can be carried by any means of transport, but you must first check whether the rules of the federal state allow the urn to be handed to a private person. The starosta's permit and the consul's certificate are also needed.

How long does it take to bring a body home from Germany?

We confirm the timing once we have the documents. The Act provides that the starosta and the consul issue their documents at the latest within 3 days of the application (Article 14(5) of the Act on Cemeteries and Burial of the Dead); in practice time is also needed for the sanepid's opinion, delivering the originals, formalities in the country of death and the transport itself.

Other countries

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Repatriation of a Body from Germany to Poland