Furniture for the last journey

Mr. Hogan, how did you come up with the idea for the offer?

A good friend of mine died a few years ago. At the time, I asked myself: what could I have done that would have helped his family and me during this difficult time? I could have made a coffin from his favorite wood. That would also have relieved the relatives, because discussing the "right" coffin is not easy for people in mourning who have so much to worry about at the same time. Then I got to know a pastor in my home town of Hamm who - like Gabriele Schreiber in Offenbach - sees cemeteries as places of encounter. The workshop idea came about with him: I built a model, we invited the press and shortly afterwards the first course was fully booked.

What experiences do you have with the participants?

There are men and women, old and young, and their concerns are also very different. Some think the workshop is an interesting idea in a very pragmatic way, and they also need a shelf. We start by building a piece of furniture that can be used as a wardrobe, shelf or chest until the last day has come. Others have recently experienced a death and are now dealing intensively with the subject of dying. We meet all people where they are. That's why there is always a pastor on site.

What discussions take place during the workshop?

The first day is dedicated to practical work: the prefabricated parts are screwed together until only the head and foot sections are missing. On the second day, things get serious: the participants decide on the actual use of their coffin as furniture and try it out. Now they also share thoughts on death, which is an everyday occurrence and yet is so often suppressed. This has a very unifying and precautionary effect, as the relatives have one less thing to worry about later. I can see that most of them identify with their workpiece by how lovingly they stroke the wood.

Do you know what the workpieces are actually used for?

That is also very diverse. A religion teacher uses them to store meditation cushions for a school, one participant uses them to store his records, another from Offenbach uses them as a toy box for his grandchildren. Some people are more afraid of contact, so there is a new wardrobe in the cellar. One piece of furniture has been in my Hammer Atelier for a long time, where I also offer 1:1 support with coffin construction: The participant's wife doesn't want the piece in her home. Basically, the question is: do we let the subject of death and dying in - or do we leave it outside?

What characterized the workshop in Offenbach?

It was the first time that my program took place in a cemetery and outdoors. While we were working, the business went on, morticians drove up, the topic came even closer to us than usual. I would like to praise the cemetery team in Offenbach for their dedicated, courageous work: I look forward to coming back in the spring.