20 Years of Wrapping Goods
In 2021, Wikkelgoed will be celebrating its 20th anniversary. We are very proud that we have been a pioneer in the funeral industry for so long with our waders . The vision with which Wikkelgoed started is still deeply interwoven in our work: the pursuit of more possibilities for a personal and gentle funeral. We find it special that we have been able to offer so many people a different kind of farewell and we continue to work hard to make this possible for everyone. That is why we would like to share the entire story of Wikkelgoed with you. From the founder's very first idea to where we are now.
Monique Rang
Monique Rang is the founder of Wikkelgoed. The moment the idea of Wikkelgoed came about is linked to her first confrontation with death. Her mother was ill for a while and was no longer allowed to get out of bed. As a gift, Monique bought a purple-blue hand-woven cloth for her bed. When the funeral director arrived with a coffin with satin lining that she did not like, Monique decided to cover the lining with the fabric she had bought. This is how the first idea of covering and wrapping came about. This idea, laying out the body with natural materials, continued to occupy Monique.
The first experience with a shroud
In 1999, three years after the premature death of Monique's mother, her grandmother passed away. Once again, the undertaker came up with a coffin with upholstery that she did not like. After having been in Monique's thoughts for a long time, her idea now came to fruition. She decided to buy a beautiful Matka silk cloth for her, and to wrap her grandmother in it. Although her grandmother was still in the coffin, this was Monique's first real experience with wrapping a deceased person. Now that she had experienced the use of a shroud herself and experienced its value, she decided to do something with it. The moment she realized this, the name 'Wikkelgoed' came to her almost immediately.
The beginning of Wikkelgoed
One day, because of her ideas, Monique was invited by a novice funeral director to take part in a group discussion about funerals and laying out. Here, they thought about more loving, warmer ways of laying out the body. This meeting eventually resulted in a discussion about the use of natural materials and a wrapping cloth. After this conversation, full of interest in such funeral products, Monique decided to make these shrouds herself. She had always had a great interest in visual arts and textiles, and this finally fell into place. There was an enthusiastic response to the shrouds she had made, which motivated Monique to continue. In 2001, she officially started under the name that had previously occurred to her: Wikkelgoed.
The death of Monique Rang
When Monique herself passed away, it was obvious that she would be wrapped in one of her own shrouds. However, this obviousness did not make it any less special for her children. For them, this was the first time that they came into contact with what their mother had been doing all this time. Inspired by this experience, they decided that Wikkelgoed should continue to exist after her death. And so, years later, we celebrate 20 years of Wikkelgoed.
