Bier
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213614811
2008-05-20T02:16:46Z
Iamwisesun
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[[Image:JPII on bier.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Pope John Paul II]] [[lying in state]] on his funeral bier at [[St. Peter's Basilica]] in [[Rome]].]]
{{otheruses1|a frame to transport corpses}}
A '''bier''' is a stand on which a [[dead body|corpse]], or [[coffin]] containing a corpse, is placed to [[lie in state]] or to be carried to the [[grave]].<ref>''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' (American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 1973), s.v., "bier"</ref>
In [[Christian burial]], the bier is often set up in the center of the [[nave]] with candles placed around it, and there it remains during the funeral.
[[Image:Bier.JPG|thumb|left|A wheeled bier from [[Grendon, Northamptonshire|Grendon]] church, [[Northamptonshire]].]]
The bier is a flat frame, traditionally [[wood]]en but sometimes made of other materials. In antiquity it was often simply a wooden board on which the dead was placed, covered with a [[shroud]]. In modern times, however, the corpse is almost never carried on the bier without being first placed in a [[coffin]], though the coffin is sometimes kept open.
A bier is often draped with cloth, to add to the dignity of the funeral service. The modern funeral industry uses a collapsible aluminum bier on wheels, known as a "church truck" to more conveniently move the coffin in and out of the church or [[funeral home]] for services.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{wikt|bier}}
==See also==
*[[Catafalque]]
*[[Hearse]]
[[Category:Funeral transportation]]
[[de:Totenbahre]]
[[simple:Bier]]