Friedhof der Namenlosen, Vienna, Historical cemetery in Simmering, Austria
The Cemetery of the Nameless is a burial ground in Vienna's Simmering industrial district where unidentified bodies were laid to rest. The site features rows of black iron crosses on open ground that slopes toward the Danube River and is bordered by aging factory buildings.
The cemetery emerged in the mid-1800s as a response to growing numbers of drowned bodies recovered from the Danube River. The practice of burying unidentified dead continued for decades until conditions in the city gradually changed.
The cemetery is cared for by volunteers, continuing the work of Josef Fuchs, who tended it until his death in 1996 and received Vienna's Golden Merit Medal. Each year on the afternoon of the first Sunday after All Saints' Day, the Albern Fishermen's Association launches a raft decorated with wreaths, flowers and burning candles onto the Danube, carrying a symbolic gravestone inscribed "To the victims of the Danube" with a request in German, Czech and Hungarian to push it back out if it reaches shore.
Plan to walk through an old industrial area to reach the site, which may look neglected and undeveloped. Wear comfortable shoes since the ground is uneven and the path is not fully maintained throughout.
The cemetery appears in Richard Linklater's 1995 film Before Sunrise, with scenes shot among the graves. The site also holds a grave cross dated 1953, although official records give 1940 as the last burial.
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