We are an entrepreneurial family from Saaremaa with a meaningful interest in funerals. Our journey into the funeral industry began with a genuine desire to understand what leads to a dignified funeral and the products and services that are available.
The original idea was to investigate the funeral service industry more thoroughly. We completed training on business plan preparation and defended our business plan. We were in negotiations to acquire a funeral home located in Tallinn.
Life’s paths are often unpredictable. Everything changed when Prenden’s grandfather passed away, leaving us the ancestral farm in Saaremaa. This led to the decision to move back to our home island.
At that time, Prenden, under the co-supervision of Triin, was researching Estonian funeral trends at Tallinn University’s Haapsalu College. The goal of the thesis was to create an innovative product based on these changing trends. This motivated us to reevaluate our plans and focus on how we could contribute to the field through product design.
The feedback we received was encouraging and helped us recognize the potential of our idea. This led to the creation of a new product: an ash urn made from sheep’s wool felt. We committed ourselves to a continuous process of product and business development, aiming to establish a product family that supports the rituals following cremation.
Our vision has been shaped by the desire to bring fresh thinking to traditional practices, offering solutions that connect ancestral customs with contemporary understandings of the world. This approach helps loved ones commemorate those who have passed away with dignity.
The WURN team is committed to valuing local resources, both in terms of materials and skills. We prioritize the use of renewable raw materials sourced as close to our community as possible. This supports smaller producers and helps preserve traditional skills. Additionally, we strive to incorporate local craftsmanship into our work processes, as we are familiar with the quality and care involved. This approach allows us to maintain a shorter supply chain, ensure greater transparency, and strengthen the connection between people, materials, and nature.
Our team’s primary goal is to ensure that every interaction with our products feels warm, natural, and pleasant. We design our products using materials that humans have cherished since the earliest moments of life: pure wool and wood. These soft, warm, and time-tested natural materials provide a safe and peaceful experience.
WURN urns stand out for their soft shapes, soft colours and meaningful details – a unique and innovative approach to memorialisation. Our products have been thoroughly thought through, tested and refined based on user feedback. Every form, solution and proportion has been fine-tuned by the WURN team, who have been working on it consistently since 2019.
WURN products are protected as Registered Community Designs (RCDs) under EUIPO registration numbers 015104906–0001 and 015104906–0002.
Why the cremation solution?
In recent years, a clear change has been observed: the majority of funerals now involve cremation. This reflects a changing approach to grief and remembrance. Cremation offers families greater flexibility and time to say goodbye, allowing for a more peaceful, personalized, and often more affordable funeral experience.
The urn can serve as a memorial urn, be laid to rest, or be used in a ritual for scattering ashes. If you want to learn more about our original idea and its evolution, check out our thesis here:
https://www.etera.ee/zoom/90411/view?page=1&p=separate&tool=info
