Day 34 - Last Day in Vienna

After a late breakfast I headed to Zentralfriedhof, which is German for Central Cemetary.  Its name is a bit of a misnomer as it is actually a few miles from the city.  There are no cemetaries within the city due to a law enacted in 1783.  This law was put into effect because the plague outbreaks had filled the cemetaries within the city, including the crypt I visited yesterday.  Having more burial grounds on prime real estate didn't make much sense so since the 18th century few people have been buried within Vienna's limits. 

I had enjoyed my visit to the graves of Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, etc. in Paris so with a free day I decided to check out the famous graves of Zentralfriedhof.

The church in the center of the Central Cemetary

Above is the same church with the grave of Karl Renner in the foreground.  Renner was the figurehead of the first republic in Austria and become the first President of the second republic.

The cemetary was full of graves of famous composers and musicians.

The grave of Beethoven

The grave of Franz Schubert

Johann Strauss' grave

There was also a tribute to Mozart nearby although he is not actually buried in the cemetary.

The cemetary was seperated by religion, aside from the composers and politicians.  Most of the old Jewish portion was destroyed by the Nazi's during Kristallnacht but some graves did survive.

As you can see from the photos it was, perhaps appropriately, another cloudy day in Europe.  Here's to hoping Budapest is sunny. 

Scott