When Vienna grew into a city of more than one million inhabitants, the old cemeteries of the various districts became too small. To accommodate the growing capital, the Central Cemetery, with an area of about 495 acres, was opened in 1874 and is a near-city in its own right.

The list of names buried here reads like an all-star list of Austria’s elite. Coming from the center of the city, you pass Gate 1, which leads to the old Jewish section, a field of graves with many remarkable monuments. Among others, Arthur Schnitzler and Friedrich Torberg are interred in Group 6. Continuing along the wall, you reach the main entrance (Gate 2), an Art Nouveau structure built by Max Hegele in 1905. Among many others, Gluck, Beethoven, Schubert, Hugo Wolf, Johann Strauss Father and Son, Lanner and Brahms are buried in Group 32a, Bruno Kreisky, Austrian Federal Chancellor from 1970 to 1983, Arnold Schönberg and Robert Stolz in Group 32c.

Across Simmeringer Hauptstrasse from the main gate is the Crematorium, built by Clemens Holzmeister in 1922 in the style of an oriental fortress. Further along the wall of the cemetery, you reach Gate 3, a secondary entrance and entrance to the Protestant section; and Gate 4, the access to the new Jewish section which has been in use since 1928.