Žďár nad Sázavou: Dispute over ban on traditional burials reaches city council ahead of elections

A dispute has flared up in the Czech town of Žďár nad Sázavou over a ban on traditional ground burials at the local Jamská cemetery. According to city officials, such burials have been prohibited since December 2019 in two of the cemetery's three zones — covering 83% of the total area, where roughly 1,500 graves are located.

The cemetery on Jamská Street has been in operation since 1910 and is already full, with no new plots becoming available. Until 2019, the cemetery was divided into three zones with different decomposition periods — 20, 40 and 50 years. The restrictions were introduced after the city's cemetery service reported that even after 50 years, remains were not fully decomposing, but instead undergoing so-called saponification — the transformation of soft tissue into a waxy substance.

Residents demand the ban be reviewed

A group of residents from the town and surrounding area, who have family graves in the cemetery, have spoken out against the decision. One of the leading critics is Josef Mory, whose family also owns a grave in the disputed zone. He argues that the restrictions are backed by neither legal, hydrogeological, nor sanitary evidence — and that the regional hygiene station has repeatedly refused to confirm the ban's legality to the city.

Since 2023, authorities have also eliminated the option of applying for individual exemptions. As a result, there have been cases where, for instance, a surviving spouse could not be buried in the ground as they wished — the body had to be cremated instead.

For more than two years, Mory has been seeking information from the town hall under the Freedom of Information Act, gathering data from sources ranging from the gravedigger to the Ministry for Regional Development, and uncovering contradictions in officials' responses.

Expert assessments reach different conclusions

A hydrogeological study conducted by the company Envirex in the first half of 2025 backed up the city authorities' position: it found that cases where remains fail to fully decompose even after 50 years are not uncommon at the site, and that the decomposition period should therefore be extended.

A year later, however, independent expert Oliver Wit, who prepared his own assessment free of charge at residents' request, challenged these conclusions. He recommends redefining the cemetery's zones and decomposition periods, assessing individual plots separately rather than applying a blanket approach to the entire cemetery, and carrying out technical drainage work in problem areas.

City authorities stall for time

In early August, Mory submitted the expert opinion to the town hall, but received no response until September 10 — the last council meeting before the elections. While city leadership had previously brushed off questions by urging residents to trust the specialists, the tone at the public forum noticeably softened after the new assessment was published.

"The report has been sent to Envirex, which conducted the original study. They need to comment on it before we can move forward," said Deputy Mayor Jaroslav Hedvičák (ANO).

Opposition councilman Jan Mokříš (ODS) backed the critics, noting that the assessment raised fundamental questions. Councilman Jan Havlík (Change 2018 movement) said the city urgently needs to revise its burial rules and zoning. He noted that during two exhumations carried out after 28 years in a zone with an established 50-year decomposition period, the remains had already fully decomposed. "That's a fact, not a feeling," he stressed.

With support from part of the coalition, opposition councilors managed to pass a resolution requiring the city administration to continue working on the issue even after the elections.

Source: novinky.cz