While some social media users thought it was a viral marketing gimmick, others thought it was vandalism or even a tech-savvy artist making a statement.
The presence of more than 1,000 QR codes on gravestones in Munich, Germany, has finally been the subject of an odd mystery. When cemetery visitors saw the covert stickers affixed to their loved ones’ headstones in December of last year, the QR codes initially attracted public notice. The codes, when scanned, provided the location and names of the deceased interred in the grave.
The Waldfriedhof, Sendlinger Friedhof, and Friedhof Solln cemeteries put the 5×3.5-centimeter (1.95×1.2-inch) labels on both new and old graves. It’s quite peculiar. We asked ourselves, “What could this type of sticker mean?” The head of Munich’s cemetery administration, Bernd Hoerauf, told the New York Times.
As the mystery grew, some social media users hypothesized that it was a viral marketing gimmick, while others thought it might have been the work of tech-savvy artists or vandals.
The mystery unfolds
Police were called in earlier this week to investigate the matter because the cemeteries were incurring enormous costs to remove the coding and the adhesive. The QR codes were really created by a nearby landscaping company, the identity of which has not been disclosed.
Senior manager Alfred Zanker explained that stickers helped his staff keep track of which headstones had already received upkeep when the company was assigned to clean the cemetery’s tombs. “We are a big business. Everything must take place in a systematic way,” he told the Süddeutsche Zeitung in Munich.
The German tabloid claims that because the headstone needs to be disassembled and moved, the repair procedure is somewhat complicated.
The stone is then reinstalled after the stain has been removed using sandpaper. “Due to the high number of cases, the police estimate the total damage to be in the mid-six-figure range, i.e. around Rs 4.5 crore or 500,000 euros.”
Notably, Munich cemeteries allow QR codes to be used, giving surviving family members access to internet tributes with photos and other digital mementos. However, a metal plate or etching is used to apply those codes to the gravestones.