On top of the first two display cases are funeral crowns. Their use is rooted in ancient ways of thinking: the life of someone who died unmarried, had not started a family and had not brought children into the world was ultimately devoid of meaning. It was believed that this lack was made good in death and a marriage would be retrieved. As a sign of this a bridal crown as was customary at weddings was laid in or on the coffin. Rather than using their own crowns, which were generally costly, crowns were loaned by priests in return for a small fee.

Sometimes a crown also signified the culmination of a virtuous life.

In Ried and the surrounding area, crowns continued to be laid on the coffin during the requiem mass in the first half of the 20th century.