A man who announced his change of address in a local newspaper sparked national attention due to the unusual location of his "new home" - six feet under the ground.

Karl Albrecht, who died last month at the age of 88, penned the obituary himself in the style of a moving notice, inviting friends to a "lively" celebration at his new lodgings in a cemetery in Hamburg, northern Germany.

"I have moved house. My new address: Olhsdorf-Ruhewald cemetery, plot Bx 65/28C," the announcement in the Hamburger Abendblatt paper said.

"I'll be pleased to have a lively attendance," it read.

Albrecht had left instructions for his family to place the notice in the paper, the national daily Bild reported.

The former insurance salesman had been a joker all his life and loved to laugh, his widow Anastasia told the newspaper.

"At the grave there'll be schnapps for all the guests. He would have wanted that," she said, adding he wanted the women to wear bright floral dresses.

"Nobody should turn up in black. My Karl could never stand gloominess," she said.