If you go all the way back to my post from May 2010, you'll recall that in many places here in Europe you don't "own" a final resting place at a cemetery; instead, you simply lease it, usually for a couple of decades or longer. If, at the end of the lease period, you (well, maybe better put: your living kin) don't choose to "renew your subscription," well, the cemetery simply "reuses" the plot for some other poor stiff (sorry, it was there; I had to use it). What exactly happens to your headstone, remains, etc., etc., well, I've never really known. Until now.I can at least offer an on-the-scene report of what happens above-ground. I happened to be walking through our local cemetery this afternoon and discovered that a large section, measuring something like 100x100 ft., had been "cleared" of the massive, flat marble monuments often used here in Belgium to cover a grave (in many cases, these are used in lieu of a headstone, probably at an enormous cost, considering the marble slabs are about 8 inches thick, and certainly larger than the largest coffin). What once was a field of tombs was now a barren patch of dirt. All the marble was gone, except for a chunk here or there. As for what had happened beneath the surface, well, here I choose to not even ask.
I'm guessing that, within a matter of weeks or months, we will start to see some new graves and marble slabs, as fresh tenants move into the space now so unceremoniously "vacated." Oh, these unusual European ways...
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