Vienna Central Cemetery, Art Nouveau cemetery in Simmering, Austria.
The Vienna Central Cemetery is a flat, 240-hectare burial ground in Kaiserebersdorf, Simmering, laid out in 1871–1874 to plans by Karl Jonas Mylius and Alfred Friedrich Bluntschli. A main axis runs from Gate 2 past the Old Arcades to Max Hegele's Art Nouveau St. Charles Borromeo Church, whose ribbed green dome and four-column portico rise above a stepped base. A rectangular grid of paths is overlaid by five diagonal avenues, and dense dark green trees shelter white grave markers and monuments.
The site opened on November 1st, 1874, to provide the growing city with additional burial grounds. In the following decades, numerous Art Nouveau structures and honorary graves were built, making the cemetery a significant place for art and memorial culture.
The grounds carry the name Zentralfriedhof and today attract visitors who walk along its wide avenues and among the honorary graves of famous composers. The landscaped paths lead through different denominational areas, where one can observe the respective burial traditions and grave designs.
Visitors can enter the cemetery through several gates and find orientation boards and paths leading to the best-known graves. A walk is possible in any season, though in spring and autumn the foliage is particularly pleasant.
The cemetery's honorary graves were created in 1881 as a way to draw visitors to a site then considered too remote; the remains of Beethoven and Schubert were moved here from the Währinger Ortsfriedhof in 1888. A cenotaph honours Mozart, who is buried at St. Marx Cemetery. The grave of Jacob Zelzer, the first person interred here, still stands near the administration building by the cemetery wall.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,653 contributors worldwide.
![Bediensteten-Wohnhäuser [Zentralfriedhof]](https://img1.digsty.com/Gytda9ha7u-F3Ht5wPLSghXBThd-fra2TqZNSdCxuLo/rs:fill:230:230:1/g:fp:0.5:0.5/czM6Ly9hcm91bmR1cy8xNC8xNzc5NTU1NjQtYWYwMjU2ZWMuanBn.jpg)
