Scattering Ashes Ceremony on Lake Walen

Would you like to hold a non-denominational farewell ceremony and scatter the ashes of a loved one on Lake Walen? Funeral speaker Abbot Reding from the Nigredo Monastery accompanies you through this ceremony with dignity, compassion, and care.

Nestled between the steep cliffs of the Churfirsten mountains and the green slopes of the Kerenzerberg, Lake Walen is one of the most beautiful and mysterious lakes in Eastern Switzerland. Its crystal-clear waters mirror the sky and the mountains, its depths hold silence, peace, and the eternal rhythm of nature.

Here, between wind and wave, between vastness and depth, the ashes of the departed can be returned to the cycle of life — a farewell in light, air, and stillness.

Whether from a small boat, at the lakeshore, or at a quiet cliffside, each ceremony is crafted individually, as a place of remembrance, love, and silent peace.

Prayer and Meditation

Released from ice are stream and river,
by Spring’s sweet, life-awakening glance.
In the valley, green with hope’s romance,
the weary Winter, faintly shivering,
withdraws into the mountain’s trance.

From there he sends, retreating fast,
a powerless scattering of frozen rain,
but the sun permits no whitened plain —
it paints the earth with living hues again.

And though no flowers bloom yet here,
the people dress in colors bright,
and turning from the shadowed gate,
they walk rejoicing into light.

Through streets and gardens, fields and ways,
the living crowd flows warm and gay;
for they, too, rise on Easter day —
awakened from the night of clay.

Scattering Ashes on Lake Walen

Look! How the cheerful people wander
through meadows, gardens, everywhere;
how the river, wide and fair,
carries boats with laughter yonder.

And heavily laden drifts the last —
a boat that sinks beneath its cheer;
from mountain paths, afar and near,
bright garments shimmer in the air.

The village hums with sound and sight,
this is the people’s heaven bright —
the old rejoice, the children play:
“Here I am human — I may be that way.”

Spring again sends forth her blue band
fluttering gently through the air;
sweet, familiar scents declare
her promise whispered to the land.

Violets dream of dawn’s delight,
and from afar a harp’s soft tone:
“O Spring, it is you — I have known!”

The Place – Lake Walen, Eastern Switzerland

Lake Walen lies between the cantons of St. Gallen and Glarus, one of Switzerland’s deepest and clearest mountain lakes. Its shimmering surface reflects the grandeur of the Churfirsten peaks, while below, in stillness and depth, the water breathes eternity.

At dawn, a gentle mist rises from the lake; as the first light touches the cliffs, the surface glows like glass — a mirror between heaven and earth. To scatter ashes here is to release them into light and silence, to give back what was borrowed from the elements, and to find peace in the rhythm of water and wind.

Guidance and Ceremony

Abbot Reding, from the Nigredo Monastery, leads each farewell ceremony at Lake Walen with mindful presence and compassion. Whether at sunrise or beneath the stars, the ritual becomes a symbol of unity between the visible and the invisible —
between life and what follows.

Released from ice are stream and river, by Spring’s sweet, life-awakening glance.