A Wendic Custom: A Funeral on the River …

About fifty miles south of Berlin, in the Spreewalde, on the borders of Bohemia, funerals on the ice are of no uncommon occurrence. Here is one of the few districts still inhabited by the Wends, a branch of the Slavic population of Lusitania, who yet retain their distinct language, costume, and national characteristics. The numerous ramifications in which the Spree penetrates the woods and forests of this country before reaching Berlin are in the winter securely frozen over, when they take the place of roads, and are used as such even for funeral processions. Everyone is, of course, perfectly at home on skates. So the young men, skating, take the ropes attached to the sleigh on which the coffin is borne, the old men, women, and children follow, skating, behind. The skates used are old-fashioned in character, tied with string. The men wear black coats and hats and such occasions, but the women vary their costume with white hoods, scarves, and aprons.