Vienna Central Cemetery
Vienna Central Cemetery | |
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Details | |
Established | 1863 |
Location | Simmering, Vienna, Austria |
Country | Austria |
Coordinates | 48°09′09″N 16°26′24″E / 48.15250°N 16.44000°E |
Type | Public |
Size | 2.4 square kilometres (590 acres) |
No. of graves | Over 330,000 graves |
No. of interments | 3 million |
Find a Grave | Vienna Central Cemetery |
The Vienna Central Cemetery (German: Wiener Zentralfriedhof) is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its significance as Vienna's biggest cemetery, not of its geographic location, as it is not in the city center of the Austrian capital, but on the southern outskirts, in the outer city district of Simmering.
History and description
Unlike many others, the Vienna Central Cemetery is not one that has evolved slowly. The decision to establish a new, big cemetery for Vienna came in 1863 when it became clear that – due to industrialization – the city's population would eventually increase to such an extent that the existing communal cemeteries would prove to be insufficient. City leaders expected that Vienna, then capital of the large
The cemetery was opened on
This argument became even more aggressive when the city announced that it did not want an official
The cemetery spans 2.5 km2 (620 acres) with 330,000 gravesites containing around 3 million deceased, and up to 25 burials daily. It is also the second largest cemetery, after the 4 km2 (990 acres) of Hamburg's Ohlsdorf Cemetery, which is the largest in Europe by land area. [4]
A Viennese joke has it that the Central Cemetery is "half the size of Zürich, but twice as much fun", (German: Halb so groß wie Zürich – aber doppelt so lustig ist der Wiener Zentralfriedhof!).[5]
Opposite the cemetery's main gate, across Simmeringer Hauptstrasse, is the Feuerhalle Simmering, Vienna's first crematorium, which was built by Clemens Holzmeister in 1922 in the style of an oriental fortress.[6]
St. Charles Borromeo Cemetery Church is the central church of the cemetery. It used to be called Dr. Karl-Lueger-Gedächtniskirche (Karl Lueger Memorial Church) because of the crypt of the former mayor of Vienna below the high altar. This church in Art Nouveau style was built in 1908–1910 by Max Hegele. The crypt of Austrian presidents is situated in front of the church. The burial vault is located beneath the sarcophagus, with stairs leading down to a circular room whose walls are lined with niches where urns or coffins can be interred.
On 1 November 2023, unidentified vandals set a fire and sprayed
Ehrengräber
In its early incarnations, the cemetery was unpopular because of its distance from the city centre. This forced authorities to think of ways to make it more attractive: Hence honorary graves (German: Ehrengrab) as a way of attracting tourists were established.
Interred in the Central Cemetery are notables such as Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert, who were moved to the Central Cemetery from "Währinger Ostfriedhof" in 1888; Johannes Brahms; Antonio Salieri; Johann Strauss II and Arnold Schoenberg. A cenotaph honours Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who is buried in nearby St. Marx Cemetery.
Interdenominational character
In addition to the
Although the older of the two, established in 1863, was destroyed by the Nazis during the Kristallnacht, around 60,000 graves remain intact. Cemetery records indicate 79,833 Jewish burials as of 10 July 2011. Prominent burials here include those of the Rothschild family and that of the author Arthur Schnitzler. The second Jewish cemetery was built in 1917 and is still in use today. There were 58,804 Jewish burials in the new section as of 21 November 2007.[10] Officials discovered the desecration of 43 Jewish graves in the two Jewish sections on 29 June 2012, allegedly as an anti-Semitic act – the stones and slabs were toppled or damaged.[11]
Since 1876, Muslims have been buried at Vienna's Zentralfriedhof. The dead are buried according to Austrian law, in a coffin, in contrast to the Islamic ritual practice: burial in a shroud. The opening of the new Islamic cemetery of the Islamic Faith Community took place on 3 October 2008 in Liesing.
The cemetery also contains
The
In 2000, a Baby burial ground opened in Section 35 B near Gate 3 where stillborn infants, dead babies, and young children up to 110 centimetres (43 in) of height are interred.[15]
Europe's first
The new Anatomy Memorial opened in Section 26, on 5 March 2009, for interments of the Institute of Anatomy of the Medical University of Vienna and for the people who donated their bodies to science.[17]
Access
Private car traffic is allowed on the cemetery grounds every day of the year except 1 November (
Gallery
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Buddhist burial ground
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Muslim section
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Protestant section with the cemetery church 'Heilandskirche'
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Russian Orthodox chapel
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Anatomy Memorial
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Military section
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Mausoleum of the architect Max Fleischer (1841–1905) in the old Jewish section
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Mortuary building
Cultural references
The cemetery is the scene of Harry Lime's fake and real funeral at the beginning and end of The Third Man.[19] The musician Wolfgang Ambros credited the cemetery in his 1975 song "Es lebe der Zentralfriedhof" ("Long live the Central Cemetery"), marking with it the 100th anniversary of its opening.
Notable interments
- Alfred Adler (1870–1937), psychiatrist and psychologist, founder of individual psychology
- Wolf Albach-Retty (1906–1967), Austrian actor
- Rudolf von Alt (1812–1905), painter
- Alois Ander (1821–1864), Bohemian-born operatic tenor
- Franz Antel (1913–2007), film director, writer and producer
- Leon Askin (1907–2005), actor
- Franz von Bayros (1866–1924), artist
- Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), composer
- Erna Berger (1900–1990), opera singer
- Ulrich Bettac (1897–1959), actor
- Hedy Bienenfeld (1907–1976), Austrian-American Olympic swimmer
- Theodor Billroth (1829–1894), surgeon
- Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906), physicist/mathematician
- Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk(1851–1914), Austrian economist
- Sergei Bortkiewicz (1877–1952), composer, with his wife Elisabeth
- Johannes Brahms (1833–1897), composer
- Adolf von Brudermann (1854–1945), Austro-Hungarian general
- Rudolf von Brudermann (1851–1941), Austro-Hungarian general
- Ignaz Brüll (1846–1907), composer
- Carl Czerny (1791–1857), piano teacher and composer
- Elfi von Dassanowsky (1924–2007), singer and film producer
- Georg Decker (1818–1894), portrait artist
- Karl Decker (1921-2005), Austrian football player and manager
- Otto Erich Deutsch (1883–1967), musicologist
- Heinrich Elbogen (1872–1927), Austrian sports shooter who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics
- Falco civil name Johann (Hans) Hölzel (1957–1998), rock singer
- Anton Dominik Fernkorn (1813–1878), sculptor
- Leopold Figl (1902–1965), statesman
- Viktor Frankl (1905–1997), neurologist, psychiatrist, and Holocaust survivor
- Egon Friedell (1878–1938), Austrian philosopher, historian, journalist, actor, cabaret performer, and theatre critic
- Edgar Froese (1944–2015), musician, artist, composer
- Dorothea Gerard (1855–1915), novelist
- Carl von Ghega(1802–1860), engineer
- Alexander Girardi (1850–1918), actor
- Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714–1787), composer
- Karl Goldmark (1830–1915), composer
- Alfred Grünfeld (1852–1924), pianist
- Cecil van Haanen (1844–1914), artist
- Baron Theophil von Hansen(1813–1891), architect
- Anton Heiller (1923–1979), organist and composer
- Johann von Herbeck (1831–1877), composer
- Hysni Curri (?–1925), Albanian revolutionary[20][21]
- Gert Jonke (1946–2009), poet, playwright and novelist
- Curd Jürgens (1912–1982), actor
- Emmerich Kálmán (1882–1953), composer
- Vera Karalli (1889–1972), ballerina and actress
- Siavash Kasrai (1927–1996), Persian Marxist poet[22]
- Wilhelm Kienzl (1857–1941), composer
- Thomas Klestil (1932–2004), Austrian president (1992–2004)
- Bruno Kreisky (1911–1990), statesman
- Karl Kraus (1874–1936), writer
- Werner Johannes Krauss(1884–1959), stage and film actor
- Hedy Lamarr (1914–2000), actress and inventor
- Joseph Lanner (1801–1843), composer
- Lotte Lehmann (1888–1976), opera singer
- György Ligeti (1923–2006), composer
- Theo Lingen (1903–1978), actor/director
- Emanuel List (1888–1967), opera singer
- Guido von List (1848–1919) 19th-century mystic Germanic and Runic revivalist
- Adolf Loos (1870–1933), architect
- Max Lorenz (1901–1975), German tenor
- Luigi Lucheni (1873–1910), Italian assassin
- Karl Lueger (1844–1910), politician
- Julius Madritsch (1906–1984), Austrian Righteous Among the Nations
- Hans Moser (1880–1964), actor
- Siegfried Marcus (1831–1898), automobile pioneer
- Karl Millöcker(1842–1899), composer
- Karl Eugen Neumann (1865–1915), European pioneer of Buddhism
- Walter Nowotny (1920–1944), World War II Luftwaffe pilot
- Georg Wilhelm Pabst(1885–1967), film director
- Ida Laura Pfeiffer (1797-1858), explorer
- Hans Pfitzner (1869–1949), composer
- Clemens von Pirquet (1874–1929), scientist and pediatrician
- Paula von Preradović (1887–1951), writer
- Helmut Qualtinger (1928–1986), actor
- Julius Raab (1891–1964), statesman
- Geli Raubal (1908–1931), Adolf Hitler's half-niece
- Karl Renner (1870–1950), statesman
- Richard Réti (1889–1929), chess grandmaster
- Josef Karl Richter (1880–1933), composer
- Hans Riemer, politician
- Albert Salomon von Rothschild(1844–1911), financier
- Nathaniel Mayer Anselm von Rothschild(1836–1905), financier
- Léonie Rysanek (1926–1998), opera singer
- Antonio Salieri (1750–1825), composer
- Friedrich Schilcher (1811–1881), painter
- Franz Schmidt (1874–1939), composer
- Arthur Schnitzler (1862–1931), writer
- Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951), composer
- Franz Schubert (1797–1828), composer
- Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky (1897–2000), architect
- David Schwarz (1852–1897) aviation pioneer
- Alma Seidler (1899–1977), actress
- Ignaz Seipel (1876–1932), statesman, Austrian chancellor
- Matthias Sindelar (1903–1939), footballer
- Robert Stolz (1880–1975), composer
- Eduard Strauss (1835–1916), composer
- Johann Strauss I (1804–1849), composer
- Johann Strauss II (1825–1899), composer
- Josef Strauss (1827–1870), composer
- Franz von Suppé (1819–1895), composer
- Heinrich Schenker (1868–1935), music theorist
- Friedrich Torberg (1908–1979), writer
- Kurt Waldheim (1918–2007), U.N secretary-general, Austrian president
- Franz Werfel (1890–1945), poet
- Franz West (1947–2012), artist
- Anton Wildgans (1881–1932), poet
- Hugo Wolf (1860–1903), composer
- Fritz Wotruba (1907–1975), sculptor
- Joe Zawinul (1932–2007), jazz keyboardist and composer
- Alexander von Zemlinsky (1871–1942), composer
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Ludwig van Beethoven's grave
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Ludwig Boltzmann's grave
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Johannes Brahms's grave
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Arnold Schoenberg's grave
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Franz Schubert's grave
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Johann Strauss' I grave
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Franz Werfel's grave
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Hedy Lamarr's grave
References
- ^ "Zentralfriedhof – Central Cemetery (Vienna, Austria)". Association of Significant Cemeteries of Europe. Retrieved 2014-11-03.
- ^ "Info Service: Wiener Zentralfriedhof" [Info Service: Vienna Central Cemetery] (in German). Friedhoefe wien. Archived from the original on 2015-08-22. Retrieved 2014-11-03.
- ^ "Rund um das Friedhofsareal: Daten und Fakten" [Around the Cemetery Area: Facts and Figures] (in German). Friedhoefe wien. Archived from the original on 2014-11-04. Retrieved 2014-11-03. 2023-02-16 not retrievable
- ^ "Central Cemetery: In Vienna there are more dead than living (In German language)".
- ^ "Wien und der Tod – eine Geschichte des Wiener Zentralfriedhofs" [Vienna and death – a history of the Viennese central cemetery] (in German). Wiensehen.at. Retrieved 2014-11-03.
- ^ "Undertakers' Museum". Vienna Direct. Retrieved 2014-11-03.
And less than 20% of the predominantly Catholic Viennese choose cremation, the rest hoping for a schöne Leiche (dialect: a schene Leich', a beautiful corpse).
- ^ Walsh, Eli (2023-11-02). "Jewish Section of Austria Cemetery Marked with Swastikas, Set Ablaze for First Time Since Kristallnacht". The Messenger. Archived from the original on November 3, 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ "A fire in the Jewish section of a cemetery in Austria's capital causes damage but no injuries". AP. 2023-11-01. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ "Vienna's Jewish community in shock after arson attack on cemetery hall". CNN. 2023-11-03. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ "JOWBR Cemetery Inventory". Jewishgen.org. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-03.
- ^ "Austria: 43 Jewish graves desecrated in Vienna". The Boston Globe. Associated Press. 29 June 2012. Retrieved 2014-11-03.
- ^ "Führungen Zentralfriedhof Wien – Die christlich-orthodoxen Begräbnisstätten" [A place for everyone at the Vienna Central Cemetery – the Christian – Orthodox burial sites] (in German). Wiensehen.at. Retrieved 2014-11-03.
- ^ "Geschichte des Wiener Zentralfriedhofs" [History of Vienna's Central Cemetery] (in German). Friedhoefewien.at. Archived from the original on 2015-05-11. Retrieved 2014-11-03.
- ^ "'History of the Protestant section of Zentralfriedhof in Simmering and the cemetery church'". Retrieved 2023-09-24.
- ^ "The Baby Lot at Vienna Central Cemetery". Friedhöfe Wien. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
- ^ "Österreichische Buddhistische Religionsgesellschaft" [Austria Buddhist Religion Society] (in German). Buddhismus-austria.at. Archived from the original on 2014-11-04. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
- ^ "Anatomie Gruppe 26" [Anatomy group 26] (in German). Friedhoefewien.at. Archived from the original on 2015-05-11. Retrieved 2014-11-03.
- ^ "The story of the Mormon burial ground of the Zentralfriedhof (In German language)".
- ^ "Location shots in Vienna of The Third Man (1949)". University of British Columbia Physics Department. 13 July 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-03.
- ^ Heral Saraçi (2012-09-29), Kush ishin drejtuesit e Partisë Nacionaliste [Who were the leaders of the Nationalist Party] (in Albanian), Gazeta Republika, retrieved 9 February 2014
- ^ Hazir Mehmeti (7 May 2013), Hysni Curri, zëri që thërret prehjen në Atdhe [Hysni Curri, the voice that calls to repose in the homeland] (in Albanian), AlbanianPress, archived from the original on 1 December 2017, retrieved 9 February 2014
- ^ "KASRA'I, Siavash". iranicaonline.org. Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 2021-04-06.