I found the below on findagrave.com while trying to locate family burials.
Is this really true?
If so, how does one find out what happened to family members buried?
Do they remove the bodies or bury new graves above them. Thank you,

Debby Painter, Michigan, USA <gincig@...>

Cemetery notes and/or description: Address:
Große Heimstraße 119, 44137 Innenstadt-West, Dortmund
...Please note that the final resting places in Germany are not eternal,
due to lack of space. This cemetery has a "period of repose" of 20
years. Once the time is up for a renewal of the "lease" the cemetery
administration will place a small sticker on the gravestone to alert the
family to contact the office of the cemetery. Unless the family of the
deceased pays for another period of 30 years, or the grave is of
historical importance (in that case the town will carry the costs), it
will be leveled and re-used. Leftover stones will be collected and
eventually crushed and used as gravel in road construction....

Yes, these limitations exist. I know that in my family we have renewed
graves in Germany several times before. However, I don't know what
they do with the bodies if a grave site does not get renewed - I guess
I have always been too reluctant to ask. Maybe someone else can shed
some light on this.

Irene Peters, uffpet@... Dallas, TX

Debby Painter, Michigan, USA <gincig@...>
Asked about this notice at a website for a cemetery in Dortmund:
"...Please note that the final resting places in Germany are not eternal,
due to lack of space. This cemetery has a "period of repose" of 20
years. Once the time is up for a renewal of the "lease" the cemetery
administration will place a small sticker on the gravestone to alert the
family to contact the office of the cemetery. Unless the family of the
deceased pays for another period of 30 years, or the grave is of
historical importance (in that case the town will carry the costs), it
will be leveled and re-used. Leftover stones will be collected and
eventually crushed and used as gravel in road construction...."

Is this really true?
If so, how does one find out what happened to family members buried?
Do they remove the bodies or bury new graves above them. Thank you,

Dear all,

as far as I know this lies in the responsibility of the cemetery owners,
usually churches or cities/villages. 20 years is a common time period,
but one can extend this period by "renting" the grave place for a
longer time. I think that the bodies are not removed but the soil
is mixed. But I am not really sure about this, since this lies in
the responsibility of the cemetery owners.

In particular, for Jewish cemeteries this is not the case. Since Jewish
graves are forever and the cemeteries belong to the Jewish communities,
Jewish cemeteries usually are for eternity. There might be exceptions,
but I have not heard of any. There exists an agreement with the German
state, so they take care of the older cemeteries (>from before 1945) -
usually the local municipality does this in cooperation with Jewish
organizations.

David Seldner, seldner@..., Karlsruhe, Germany