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Map to the video

Your park was a cemetery

Many a Viennese park was once a cemetery. Here you see all 43 cemeteries on the plan of 1820 and what is there today: a park, houses, a street or still a cemetery. And which one lay near you.

  1. Märzpark was a cemetery

    In front of the Stadthalle in the 15th district lies Märzpark. Around 1820 this was the Schmelz cemetery: the gold outline comes from the plan of the time. Gold means: a park today.

  2. 43 cemeteries around 1820

    The Franciscan cadastre, surveyed from 1817 to 1829, shows 43 cemeteries in today’s Vienna. Of these, 28 are no longer cemeteries: 10 are parks, 4 partly, 11 lie under houses or streets, 3 are woods or meadow. Still cemeteries today: 14; one is a borderline case.

  3. Why outside the city?

    From 1784 the dead were no longer buried in the city and its suburbs, for the sake of health. Outside the Linienwall, where the Gürtel runs today, five large cemeteries were laid out. Then the city grew around them.

  4. Cemeteries became parks

    In 1874 the Central Cemetery opened and the cemeteries outside the Linienwall were closed. In the 1920s Vienna turned many of them into parks: Währinger Park and Waldmüllerpark in 1923, Schubertpark in 1925, Haydnpark in 1926, Märzpark in 1928.

  5. Moved

    Many of the dead were reburied, like Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert: they lay in today’s Schubertpark in Währing and were moved to the Central Cemetery in 1888. Their gravestones stayed.

  6. But not all

    In 2013 Stadtarchäologie Wien, the city’s excavation service, still found 26 graves in Landgutgasse in Favoriten, at the edge of the oldest part of Matzleinsdorf cemetery. Where it lay around 1820, trains run today and the U2 is being built; Waldmüllerpark lies on the later extension.

  7. One survived

    Only one of the large cemeteries remained: St. Marx, never cleared, restored in 1936/37. Mozart was buried here in 1791; nobody knows exactly where.

  8. Your turn

    Which park near you was a cemetery? Search your address or tap the map.

    Move and zoom the map with two fingers.

  • park today
  • partly a park
  • houses or street
  • woods, meadow, green space
  • still a cemetery
  • borderline case

What is there today

  • 10park today (6.5 ha)
  • 4partly a park (2.2 ha)
  • 11houses or street (1.2 ha)
  • 3woods, meadow, green space (0.3 ha)
  • 14still a cemetery (4.4 ha)
  • 1borderline case (0.1 ha)

All 43 cemeteries around 1820, by district

Each with its name around 1820, what is there today and the sources for it. Gold: a park today, red: houses or street, grey: still a cemetery.

3. Landstraße

10. Favoriten

  • park today

    Oberlaaer Kirchhof um die Kirche St. Ägyd

    Today: the park on Ober-Laaer Platz and the church

    Around 1820: churchyard around a village church · 1,320 m² · 67 % of the area lies in a park today

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Oberlaaer Friedhof, Oberlaaer Kirche · Friedhöfe Wien: Friedhof Oberlaa

  • partly a park

    Matzleinsdorfer Katholischer Friedhof

    Today: railway, U2 construction site and part of Waldmüllerpark (a park since 1923)

    Around 1820: cemetery outside the Linienwall (from 1784) · 1.5 ha · 20 % of the area lies in a park today

    Waldmüllerpark lies mostly on the later extension of the cemetery; the 1820 outline went to railway and street. In 2013 Stadtarchäologie Wien still found 26 shaft graves for multiple burials in Landgutgasse, at the edge of the oldest part.

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Matzleinsdorfer Katholischer Friedhof, Waldmüllerpark, Gräberhain Waldmüllerpark · Stadt Wien: Waldmüllerpark in Favoriten

11. Simmering

  • still a cemetery

    Kaiserebersdorfer Ortsfriedhof

    Today: Kaiserebersdorf cemetery

    Around 1820: village cemetery · 1,960 m²

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Kaiserebersdorfer Friedhof · Friedhöfe Wien: Friedhof Kaiserebersdorf

  • borderline case

    Bergfriedhof um die Laurenzkirche (Alte Simmeringer Kirche)

    Today: church and church grounds; the cemetery grew next to it into Simmering cemetery

    Around 1820: churchyard around a village church · 660 m²

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Simmeringer Friedhof, Alte Simmeringer Kirche · Friedhöfe Wien: Friedhof Simmering

12. Meidling

  • park today

    Hundsturmer Friedhof

    Today: Haydnpark (opened 1926)

    Around 1820: cemetery outside the Linienwall (from 1784) · 1.1 ha · 89 % of the area lies in a park today

    Joseph Haydn lay here until 1820; his gravestone still stands in the park.

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Hundsturmer Friedhof, Haydnpark, Haydngrab · Stadt Wien: Haydnpark in Meidling

  • houses or street

    Zweiter Meidlinger Friedhof

    Today: houses and street on Sechtergasse and Pachmüllergasse

    Around 1820: village cemetery · 1,610 m²

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Meidlinger Friedhof (1807-1862), Pachmüllergasse · Friedhöfe Wien: Friedhof Meidling

  • still a cemetery

    Hetzendorfer Friedhof

    Today: the core of Hetzendorf cemetery

    Around 1820: village cemetery · 410 m²

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Hetzendorfer Friedhof · Friedhöfe Wien: Friedhof Hetzendorf

  • still a cemetery

    Altmannsdorfer Friedhof

    Today: Altmannsdorf cemetery

    Around 1820: village cemetery · 700 m²

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Altmannsdorfer Friedhof · Friedhöfe Wien: Friedhof Altmannsdorf

13. Hietzing

  • park today

    Zweiter Ober-St.-Veiter Friedhof

    Today: Streckerpark (since 1908)

    Around 1820: village cemetery · 1,110 m² · 98 % of the area lies in a park today

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Ober-St.-Veiter Friedhof (1751-1907), Streckerpark · Stadt Wien: Streckerpark in Hietzing

  • woods, meadow, green space

    A cemetery without a known name

    Today: woods on the Roter Berg

    Around 1820: kind unclear · 1,390 m²

    The 1820 plan marks this area as a cemetery. We have not been able to find out which one it was.

    Sources: unclear, see above

  • still a cemetery

    Hietzinger Friedhof

    Today: the core of Hietzing cemetery

    Around 1820: village cemetery · 1,620 m²

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Hietzinger Friedhof · Friedhöfe Wien: Friedhof Hietzing

14. Penzing

15. Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus

16. Ottakring

17. Hernals

  • partly a park

    Neuer Hernalser Friedhof

    Today: Lorenz-Bayer-Park and houses; the old mortuary still stands

    Around 1820: village cemetery · 2,280 m² · 42 % of the area lies in a park today

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Hernalser Friedhof (1784-1872), Lorenz-Bayer-Platz · Friedhöfe Wien: Friedhof Hernals

  • houses or street

    Neuer Dornbacher Friedhof

    Today: a children’s day recreation centre and allotment gardens

    Around 1820: village cemetery · 1,690 m²

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Dornbacher Friedhof (1814-1883) · Friedhöfe Wien: Friedhof Dornbach

18. Währing

19. Döbling

21. Floridsdorf

22. Donaustadt

  • park today

    Alter Asperner Friedhof um die Martinskirche

    Today: the park on Asperner Heldenplatz and the church

    Around 1820: churchyard around a village church · 870 m² · 72 % of the area lies in a park today

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Asperner Friedhof (1670-1892), Astrid-Lindgren-Park · Friedhöfe Wien: Friedhof Aspern

  • still a cemetery

    Esslinger Friedhof

    Today: the core of Eßling cemetery

    Around 1820: village cemetery · 270 m²

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Esslinger Friedhof · Friedhöfe Wien: Friedhof Eßling

23. Liesing

  • houses or street

    Neuer Maurer Friedhof

    Today: houses; the Marienhaus was built here in 1895

    Around 1820: village cemetery · 1,300 m²

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Maurer Friedhof (1786-1867) · Friedhöfe Wien: Friedhof Mauer

  • houses or street

    Alter Liesinger Ortsfriedhof

    Today: a school building (a girls’ school in 1888)

    Around 1820: village cemetery · 570 m²

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Liesinger Friedhof, Dirmhirngasse · Friedhöfe Wien: Friedhof Liesing

  • houses or street

    Alter Atzgersdorfer Ortsfriedhof

    Today: houses on Canavesegasse and Endresstraße

    Around 1820: village cemetery · 1,300 m²

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Atzgersdorfer Friedhof (1780-1825) · Friedhöfe Wien: Friedhof Atzgersdorf

  • woods, meadow, green space

    Alter Kalksburger Friedhof

    Today: green space at the edge of the Vienna Woods on Gütenbachstraße

    Around 1820: village cemetery · 370 m²

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Kalksburger Friedhof (1793-1893), Franz Mack der Ältere · Friedhöfe Wien: Friedhof Kalksburg

  • still a cemetery

    Rodauner Friedhof

    Today: the core of Rodaun cemetery

    Around 1820: village cemetery · 1,260 m²

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Rodauner Friedhof · Friedhöfe Wien: Friedhof Rodaun

  • still a cemetery

    Inzersdorfer Friedhof

    Today: the core of Inzersdorf cemetery

    Around 1820: village cemetery · 3,050 m²

    Sources: Wien Geschichte Wiki: Inzersdorfer Friedhof · Friedhöfe Wien: Friedhof Inzersdorf

How the map is made
  • Outlines: every area the Franciscan cadastre (as redrawn by the City of Vienna) marks as a cemetery, within today’s city.
  • Today: each area classified by the history of the place (Wien Geschichte Wiki, Friedhöfe Wien, City of Vienna), supported by the 2024 land use map and the green spaces of the City of Vienna.
  • Second count: the City of Vienna’s “historic gardens” name nine parks in place of a cemetery; two of them (Paul-Hock-Park, Hans-Hirsch-Park) are cemeteries from 1864 and 1880, not yet on the 1820 plan.
  • Same computation as the video.

Sources for the video “Your park was a cemetery”

Watch the video:wohnwahn on TikTokwohnwahn on Instagramwohnwahn on YouTube

Data

For the film we cropped, converted and redrew the data.

Google 3D

Märzpark in front of the Stadthalle today, seen obliquely from above: Google’s photorealistic 3D. In the film the credit stays in the picture for as long as Google’s image is visible: Google · Kartendaten: Data SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO, Landsat / Copernicus, IBCAO

Picture

  1. Albin Mutterer (photographer), 18., Währinger Straße 123 - Schubertpark (ehem. Währinger Ortsfriedhof) - Schubert-Grab, around 1860 to 1870. Wien Museum, inv. no. 66392/450. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: cropped, shown over Schubertpark in the film.

AI, voice and music

The painting of the cemetery in front of the Stadthalle is made with AI, following our template from laser scan, aerial image and the 1820 outline. Voice and music are AI-generated: the voice with Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS (“Charon”), the music with Google Lyria 3 Pro via OpenRouter.

Evidence for the statements