Out of the altogether 55 cemeteries in Vienna, 46 are managed by the company Friedhöfe Wien GmbH. The remaining resting places are denominational burial sites, and are therefore maintained by the Catholic Church, Protestant Church, the official Jewish Community, and the Islamic Religious Community respectively.
Special features among Vienna’s cemeteries
The Vienna Central Cemetery is the largest of the numerous cemeteries in Vienna. It was opened in the 1870s, and today with over 330,000 graves, is one of the largest cemeteries in all of Europe. Because it also features many special structures, graves of honour, and the graves of famous Austrian families, as well as countless valuable statues and monuments, the Vienna Central Cemetery is also one of Vienna’s main sights.
Among other things, the approx. 2.5km² area features the “Park of Peace and Power”, while the Forest Cemetery is available for a more unconventional kind of burial. One of Vienna’s spookier museums – the Vienna Funeral Museum – can be found at the Central Cemetery. For interments close to nature, urn burials and collective burials are carried out at the Crematorium Simmering. By the way: The Central Cemetery has been immortalised in the song “Es lebe der Zentralfriedhof” (Long live the Central Cemetery) by Viennese songwriter Wolfgang Ambros.
The Jewish cemetery, whose origins can be dated back to 1540, is home to more than 300 historically significant graves.
The Friedhof der Namenlosen (Cemetery of the Unnamed) at Alberner Hafen is home to the unknown dead that were washed up by the Danube between 1845 and 1940. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was buried at the St. Marx Cemetery. In turn, Gustav Klimt was laid to rest at the Hietzinger Cemetery.
In the stillness of the forest
In turn, the Neustift am Walde Cemetery is especially maintained as a biotope for animals and plants. Here, animals such as the fire salamander, as well as various bird species have been successfully resettled. The Kahlenberg Cemetery also has a very idyllic location: Found in the middle of the forest, today it is home to the Biedermeier Graves, which are definitely worth seeing.
Information on the cemeteries in Vienna:
Friedhöfe Wien GmbH
Simmeringer Hauptstraße 339, 1110 Vienna
Tel.: +43 1 534 69-0
