My Vienna: Zentralfriedhof (central cemetery)
Above/featured: The cemetery’s Gate 2 (2. Tor) designed by Max Hegele, who was Otto Wagner’s student and also responsible for the construction of the Fillgraderstiege steps in Mariahilf.
Where: Vienna Central Cemetery (Wiener Zentralfriedhof).
Who: Beethoven, Boltzmann, Falco, Lamarr, Schütte-Lihotzky, Strauss I and II.
Why: Cross-section of cultural and economic history for capital city and nation.
In Vienna, tram 71 begins in the Old Town; goes around the western half of the inner ring past City Hall, national Parliament, and the Opera House; and heads southeast to the city’s main cemetery or the Zentralfriedhof. Because coffins to the cemetery were once transported on the tram, there’s a saying particular to the city’s residents, a phrase which means they’ve died by “going to the end of the line.”
Sie haben den 71er genommen.”
(“They took the 71.”)
Brief intro
As Europe’s 2nd largest cemetery, the Zentralfriedhof covers a surface area of 2.5 square kilometres (1 square mile)%. There are over 300-thousand graves, among them 1000 are in the “honorary” or Ehrengräber category. Over 3 million people are buried in the cemetery, which was established in 1863 and the first burial taking place in 1874. At present, 20 to 25 funerals take place every day in the cemetery.
The physical layout; the graves of multiple backgrounds, creeds, and occupations; and countless sculptures symbolize connections between life and death, and between the living and the dead. The size of the park invites the residence of many animals, including deer, hares, foxes, hamsters, hedgehogs, and squirrels. There are also beehives on the grounds, thanks to the abundance and variety of trees and flowers; you can even buy “Friedhofshonig” honey at the cemetery gift shop. The large green space also serves joggers, bicycle rides, and long walks on many a path. In truth, the working central cemetery is also an urban recreation area.
I had at the outset wanted to find the graves of a couple of physicists whose work formed an important part of my scientific education. Then, I discovered the names of musicians buried here. Then, I learned the names of important figures in the city’s history. And then, I realized a visit to the central cemetery would be a measured sweeping wave through the artistic, cultural, and industrial history of Austria.
Was dieser kleine Raum umschlossen hält, war für mich die ganze Welt.(What this little space keeps enclosed is my entire world.)

Entry columns from inside Tor 2 (gate 2), the cemetery’s main entrance designed by Maximilian Hegele. A student of Otto Wagner, Hegele also designed the Fillgraderstiege. Left (west) column: “Errichtet unter der Regierung Kaiser Franz Josef I.” (Constructed with the support of Emperor Franz Josef I.); right (east) column: “Erbaut unter dem Bürgermeister Doktor Karl Lueger im Jahre 1905.” (Built in 1905 with the support of Mayor Dr. Karl Lueger.) The tram stop “Zentralfriedhof, Tor 2” for lines 11 and 71 is located past the gate, only 60 metres (200 feet) from where this image was made.

Near the centre of the cemetery is the 1911 church designed by architect Max Hegele in the Jugendstil architectural style and named Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Gedächtnis-Kirche (Dr. Karl Lueger Memorial Church). As Vienna’s mayor from 1897 to 1910, Lueger’s legacy as visionary modernist was tarnished by his opportunistic and virulent anti-Semitism. The church was renamed in 2000 as Friedhofskirche zum St. Karl Borromäus (St. Charles Borromeo Cemetery Church) after completion of full renovations.

Group 32A: Beethoven (grave, no.29), Mozart (memorial, no.55), Schubert (grave, no.28).
Notable Graves
- Ludwig van BEETHOVEN
- Ludwig BOLTZMANN
- Johannes BRAHMS
- Johann (Hans) HÖLZEL, aka Falco
- Josef HOFFMANN
- Mercedes JELLINEK
- Udo JÜRGENS
- Hedy LAMARR
- Adolf LOOS
- Siegfried MARKUS
- Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
- Familie MUNK (Josef Stefan)
- Anton SALIERI
- Franz SCHUBERT
- Margarete SCHÜTTE-LIHOTZKY
- Johann STRAUSS I (Vater)
- Johann STRAUSS II (Sohn)
- Eduard “Edi” STRAUSS
- Josef “Pepi” STRAUSS
- Friedrich “Fritz” WOTRUBA
- Josef “Joe” ZAWINUL
- Soviet Red Army WW2 soldiers
Ludwig van Beethoven
• b/* 16 Dec 1770, d/+ 26 Mar 1827.
• Composer of over 700 works.
• From his 9th symphony: “Ode an die Freude (Ode to Joy)“, adapted from Friedrich Schiller’s poem.

Ludwig van Beethoven: Gruppe 32A, Nummer 29.

Originally buried in Währinger cemetery before its closure and conversion to a city park, his tomb was moved here to the central cemetery in 1888 when this memorial was also unveiled.
Ludwig Boltzmann
• b/* 20 Feb 1844, d/+ 5 Sep 1906.
• Physicist, student of Josef Stefan. Became professor of mathematics and physics at Vienna University.
• Contributions include Boltzmann constant, Stefan-Boltzmann Law, Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, Boltzmann entropy equation.

Ludwig Boltzmann: Gruppe 14C, Nummer 1.
Johannes Brahms
• b/* 7 May 1833, d/+ 3 Apr 1897.
• Composer, “Ungarischer Tanz Nr. 5“, WoO 1 (1879).

Johannes Brahms: Gruppe 32A, Nummer 26.

Johannes Brahms: Gruppe 32A, Nummer 26.
Johanns (Hans) Hölzel, aka Falco
• b/* 19 Feb 1957, d/+ 6 Feb 1998.
• Musician, 1980s radio hit and ode to Mozart: “Rock Me Amadeus“.
• His mother, Maria, died in 2014 and is buried next to her son; these two graves are the most visited in the entire cemetery.
• “Scandal Calling: The Story of Falco, Austria’s Biggest Popstar” – by Jacob Wingate-Bishop.

Maria Hölzel (lower left-centre); Hans Hölzel (centre-right), : Gruppe 40, Nummer 64.

“Two one zero, der Alarm ist Rot, Wien in Not … Vienna calling …”
Josef Hoffmann
• b/* 15 Dec 1870, d/+ 7 May 1956.
• Architect, designer, co-founder of both Secession and Wiener Werkstätte.

Karoline & Josef Hoffmann: Gruppe 14C, Nummer 20.
Mercedes Jellinek
• b/* 16 Sep 1889, d/+ 23 Feb 1929.
• Adrienne Manuela Ramona Jellinek, whose nickname was “Mercedes”, was born to Rachel and Emil Jellinek. An automobile merchant and promoter of Daimler vehicles in Austria, Emil Jellinek named a set of new racing cars after his daughter around 1899-1900. The Mercedes name and brand live on today. Her grandfather was Adolf Jellinek, former chief rabbi of Vienna, who is buried in Zentralfriedhof’s Old Jewish Cemetery (Gruppe 5B, Reihe 1, Nummer 2).

Adrienne Manuela Ramona “Mercedes” Schlosser (née Jellinek) and other members of the Jellinek family: Gruppe 59C, Nummer 26.

“Mercedes” Schlosser (née Jellinek), members of Jellinek family. Her grandfather Rabbi Adolf Jellinek is buried in Zentralfriedhof’s Old Jewish Cemetery.
Udo Jürgens
• b/* 30 Sep 1934, d/+ 21 Dec 2014.
• Austrian musician, singer, songwriter; known as Europe’s Frank Sinatra.

Udo Jürgens: Gruppe 33G, Nummer 85.

Udo Jürgens: Gruppe 33G, Nummer 85.
Hedy Lamarr
• b/* Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, in Vienna on 9 Nov 1914; d/+ 19 Jan 2000.
• Inventor and actress.
• We have her to thank for inventing the technique of “frequency hopping” (spread spectrum) which is crucial to the ubiquity of bluetooth, mobile, and WiFi technology.

Hedy Lamarr: Gruppe 33G, Nummer 80.

Thanks to her invention and patent, we now have bluetooth and WiFi technology.
Adolf Loos
• b/* 10 Dec 1870, d/+ 23 Aug 1933.
• Architect, part of early 20th-century Vienna Modernism (Wiener Moderne) movement.

Adolf Loos: Gruppe 0, Reihe 1, Nummer 105; SW corner next to the field of solar panels.

Adolf Loos: Gruppe 0, Reihe 1, Nummer 105.
Siegfried Markus
• b/* 18 Sep 1831, d/+ 1 Jul 1898.
• Inventor, one of the earliest automobiles. Because of his Jewish heritage, the Nazis tried to erase his name from history.

Siegfried Markus: Gruppe 0, Reihe 1, Nummer 101.

Siegfried Markus: “pioneer, gasoline (petrol-) engine and car engine.”
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• b/* 27 Jan 1756, d/+ 5 May 1791.
• Composer; “Eine kleine Nachtmusik“, K.525, I. Allegro (1787).
• This is a memorial to Mozart, and not his grave.
• At the time of Mozart’s death and burial in the city’s St. Marx cemetery, he was buried in an unmarked grave for an individual citizen which was the common custom at the time. The exact location of his grave remains unknown today; an additional memorial to Mozart stands near the centre of St. Marx cemetery.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (memorial): Gruppe 32A, Nummer 55.

Memorial dedicated by the city of Vienna 1859 / (Denkmal) Gewidmet von der Stadt Wien 1859.
Familie Munk (Josef Stefan)
• Josef Stefan (Jožef Štefan, in Slovenian): b/* 24 Mar 1835, d/+ 7 Jan 1893.
• Physicist; professor of mathematics and physics, Vienna University.
• Heat transfer; solid-liquid phase transitions; development of Stefan-Boltzmann Law with student Ludwig Boltzmann.
• He had neither siblings nor children. His wife Maria (1839-1929) buried here; his step-granddaughter Aloisia Rohm (1897-1969) also buried here. According to administration records, burial-duration rights are in Stefan-Munk family name. Stefan family name has disappeared, and only names of Rudolf (1907-1982) and Rudolfine (1916-1995) Munk appear on headstone.
• Josef Stefan, eine biografische Spurensuche zum 120. Todestag, Karl Westritschnig (2012).

Familie Munk (Rudolf 1907-1982, Rudolfine 1916-1995): Gruppe 46D, Reihe 1, Nummer 30.
Antonio Salieri
• b/* 18 Aug 1750, d/+ 7 May 1825.
• Composer, late 18th-century opera, royal court music director.
• Exploding the Salieri myth, by Erica Jeal, for The Guardian, 2003.

Antonio Salieri: Gruppe 0, Reihe 1, Nummer 54.

Antonio Salieri: Gruppe 0, Reihe 1, Nummer 54.
Franz Schubert
• b/* 31 Jan 1797, d/+ 19 Nov 1828.
• Composer: “Der Erlkönig“, Op.1, D.328 (1815) adapted from Goethe’s text; “Ellens Dritter Gesang“, Op.52, No.6, D.839 (1825).

Franz Schubert: Gruppe 32A, Nummer 28.

Franz Schubert: Gruppe 32A, Nummer 28.
Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky
• b/* 23 Jan 1897, d/+ 18 Jan 2000.
• Architect, mother of the modern fitted kitchen, activist.

Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky: Gruppe 33G, Nummer 28.

Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky: architect, (WW2) resistance fighter.
Johann Strauss I (Vater)
• b/* 14 Mar 1804, d/+ 25 Sep 1849.
• Composer, imperial court royal ball music director. His sons Johann II, Eduard, and Josef formed an informal contemporary dynasty of “Wiener Walzer” (Vienna Waltzes).
• His wife Anna Strauss (née Streim) buried next to son Josef; see below.

Johann Strauss I (father/senior): Gruppe 32A, Nummer 15.

Johann Strauss I (father/senior): Gruppe 32A, Nummer 15.
Johann Strauss II (Sohn)
• b/* 25 Oct 1825, d/+ 3 Jun 1899.
• Composer, royal music director.
• Best known for “An der schönen blauen Donau (On the blue Danube)“, Walzer op.314, 1866: the unofficial anthem of Vienna.

Johann Strauss II (son/junior): Gruppe 32A, Nummer 27.

Johann Strauss II (son/junior): Gruppe 32A, Nummer 27.
Eduard “Edi” Strauss
• b/* 15 Mar 1835, d/+ 28 Dec 1916.
• Johann II’s brother, composer, royal court music director.

Eduard Strauss: Gruppe 32A, Nummer 42.
Josef “Pepi” Strauss
• b/* 22 Aug 1827, d/+ 22 Jul 1870.
• First buried at Vienna St. Marx cemetery, his remains were later exhumed and reburied here at the city’s central cemetery (next to mum Anna Strauss).
• Johann II’s younger brother, and also composer. Johann II once said of Josef: “Pepi (Josef) is the more gifted of us; I’m merely more popular.”

Josef Strauss: Gruppe 32A, Nummer 44.
Friedrich “Fritz” Wotruba
• b/* 23 Apr 1907, d/+ 28 Aug 1975.
• Architect, known for the Wotruba Church in southern Vienna.

Fritz Wotruba: Gruppe 32C, Nummer 32.

Fritz and his Lucy.
Josef “Joe” Zawinul
• b/* 7 Jul 1932, d/+ 11 Sep 2007.
• Best-known jazz musician from Austria; keyboardist, composer, co-founded 1970s American jazz-rock fusion group Weather Report.

Joe & Maxine Zawinul: Gruppe 33G, Nummer 39.

From earth time to eternity time …
Soviet Red Army WW2 soldiers
• Inaugurated in 1946, over 2400 Soviet Red Army soldiers are laid to rest in an area behind the Borromäus church.

Sowjetische Kriegstote, 2. Weltkrieg: Gruppe 44A.
% The world’s largest cemetery park is in Hamburg-Ohlsdorf with an area encompassing 4 square kilometres (1.5 square miles).
• “Erbe Österreich: Wiener Zentralfriedhof” – ORF documentary, 21 Nov 2017 (YouTube).
• Dark Tourism, by Peter Hohenhaus.
I made all pictures above on 20 May 2018 with a Fujifilm X70 fixed-lens prime; alle Fotoaufnahmen sind von Wasserzeichen versehen worden. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-bWJ.
8 Responses to “My Vienna: Zentralfriedhof (central cemetery)”
So many well known souls are resting in this cemetery, people of a master mind, I would call it. I do hope they will never been forgotten, especially from the younger generations, because they set milestones of amazing work. Thank you for posting this. By the way I love to go cemeteries , I spent an entire week in Paris on cemeteries to photography grave stones, many years ago.
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After doing a little bit of research, what I found interesting was the variety of people: artists, scientists, engineers, etc. This should not be a surprise, because Zentralfriedhof is the big cemetery in the city which receives burials of people from all walks of life. I definitely see Parisian cemeteries as an interesting photography project. Thanks for your comment, Cornelia!
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Indeed, in this cemetery so many people of the World War got to rest in there.
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Whoa that’s a lot notable names in there. I didn’t know that Beethoven died in Vienna. Interesting post 🙂
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Vienna has seen a lot of history, and thankfully, the two world wars didn’t completely destroy the various cemeteries around the city. Though born in Germany’s Bonn, Beethoven lived most of his life in Vienna; that means there are a lot of places around town where he lived and spent time. Thanks, Amor, for stopping by and for your comment!
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[…] In Vienna’s Mariahilf neighbourhood resides Austria’s “most beautiful steps“, the Fillgraderstiege. The steps were designed in the Art Nouveau style by Maximilian Hegele and were built with stone and cast-iron over a two-year span by 1907 to connect two streets Fillgradergasse and Theobaldgasse. A student of Otto Wagner, Hegele also redesigned the city’s central cemetery as well as the cemetery’s main entrance at gate 2. […]
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[…] AT Zentralfriedhof G 14C / R – / N […]
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[…] Stefan and Boltzmann are buried in Vienna’s Central Cemetery. Boltzmann’s gravestone includes his entropy equation. Stefan does not have his own grave; instead, his descendants in the […]
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