St. Mark’s Cemetery (Sankt Marxer Friedhof)

St. Mark’s Cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries in Vienna in the third Landstrasse district. It has been inactive since 1874. St. Mark’s Cemetery was originally intended for the city’s poor and even got its name from the nearby almshouse. There is a grave of Wolfgang Mozart in the cemetery. Today it is a romantic chestnut park with unique ancient burials.

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History

The cemetery was opened in 1784 by order of Emperor Joseph II, who forbade the burial of the poor inside the city walls. By the same decree, the bodies of the dead were to be buried without coffins in mass graves (5 people each). Initially, the cemetery of St. Mark was considered very “unprestigious”, because it was intended for poor citizens. This is already evident from the name of the cemetery, which it got from the almshouse of the same name, which was located nearby.

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There were no religious distinctions in the cemetery at that time – Catholics were buried next to Protestants, Orthodox and Jews could rest next to each other. There are quite a few Russian graves here – the inscriptions on them are often erased.

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In the 30s of the XIX century, with the expansion of the city and the entry of the cemetery into its territory, the “status” of the cemetery rose, and it began to bury people of different classes, including the nobility. However, already in 1874, after the opening of the Central Cemetery in Vienna, burials in St. Mark’s Cemetery were suspended. In 1937, the cemetery was opened to visitors and tourists. It has been transformed into a romantic chestnut park with unique old burials. Fallen obelisks, marble crucifixes and sad angels can be seen everywhere.

Buried in St. Mark’s Cemetery are:

Composers

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  • Albrechtsberger, Johann Georg (1809)
  • Anton Diabelli (1858)
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  • Joseph Strauss (1870)

Politicians and military

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  • Philipp von Cobenzl (1810)
  • Alexander Ypsilanti (1828)

Sculptors

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  • Donner, Georg Raphael (1741)

Writers and poets

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  • Ernst von Feuchtersleben (1849)
  • Franz Pfeiffer (1868)

Inventors

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  • Josef Madersperger (1850)

Tourists

The graves of the period 1784-1874 are very picturesque. The most famous burial belongs to Alexander Ypsilanti (1792-1828) – Greek, lieutenant general of the Russian army, organizer of the anti-Ottoman uprising in Moldavia, the hero of Pushkin’s poem.

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There is a grave of Wolfgang Mozart in the cemetery. This burial is symbolic. No one knows exactly where the ashes of the great composer rest. Mozart, who died in 1791, was buried in a common grave, together with the poor. Even the composer’s widow could not find his resting place and bid farewell to her husband. In 1859 a burial plan was found. It was used to determine the approximate location of Mozart’s final resting place. A marble monument designed by Gasser was placed on the chosen grave (it was tried to be moved to the Music Corner of the Central Cemetery, but later returned to its original place).

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Address

Leberstraße 6-8 1030 Wien, Österreich

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How to get there

Take the bus to the Grasbergergasse stop

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