Drag queen Olivia Jones (53) and “stern-TV” presenter Steffen Hallaschka (51) already know in which coffins they start their last journey after their death. “Basically, I already have my coffin. It turned out so well and I fit in there too,” said Jones of the German Press Agency in Hamburg. The Dragqueen, who was born in Lower Saxony, painted a wooden coffin in the new documentary series “Sterben für Beginners”, among other things, while Hallaschka built his own coffin.
At first he understood the idea of the coffins primarily as a strong image for the series, Hallaschka said. “But then I thought to myself: No, that’s great. I already have my coffin. I’ll put it upright in my room at home as a wine rack. And I have one less thing to worry about.” He doesn’t think it’s morbid at all. On the contrary: “It’s a mature thing to build your coffin at the age of 50.”
The serious and entertaining documentary series “Dying for Beginners” has been available on the RTL streaming service since Wednesday. In it, Jones and Hallaschka visit people who have something to do with death – whether undertakers, forensic pathologists, terminally ill or terminal attendants. The aim of the six-part documentary is to reduce fears of contact with the topics of death and dying.
