“As an actor, I would never have received such good reviews” – Economy

The Viennese Carl Achleitner used to be an actor, today he gives funeral speeches. A conversation about whether you should tip, how nice humor can be at the grave and what remains of life at the end.

Carl Achleitner, white shirt, black suit, just got back from a funeral. The 59-year-old lives in Vienna, worked as an actor in the theater and appeared in over 100 film and TV productions before becoming a professional funeral speaker eleven years ago. Since then he has accompanied 3,300 people on their last journey and written a book about his experiences as a funeral speaker, which was a bestseller in Austria. Achleitner takes off his jacket and talks in a soft Austrian dialect in the video call.