The Döbling Cemetery (Döblinger Friedhof) is a cemetery in the 19th district of Döbling in Vienna, Austria.

Döblinger Friedhof
A 19th century cross at the cemetery
Map
Details
Established1880
Location
CountryAustria
Coordinates48°14′19″N 16°19′41″E / 48.23861°N 16.32806°E / 48.23861; 16.32806
TypePublic
Size49,981 square metres (12.351 acres)
No. of graves6,853

Location

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The cemetery lies in the south of Döbling on the border to Währing in the Katastralgemeinde of Oberdöbling, in the Hartäckerstraße. The cemetery's limits are defined in the south by the Peter-Jordan-Straße, in the west by the Borkowskigasse and in the north by the Hartäckergasse. It thus covers an area of 49,981 m2 and provides space for 6853 plots.[1]

History

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Older cemeteries in Döbling

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Traditionally, Unterdöbling’s dead were buried at the Heiligenstadt cemetery, while those from Oberdöbling were buried around the Döbling Parish Church. The latter was expanded in 1781; records exist of its use until 1783. When the church was torn down and rebuilt in 1826, the graveyard was presumably abandoned.

A new cemetery was founded to replace the graveyard in the course of the elevation of Döbling to an independent parish. This new cemetery was designed to accommodate not just Oberdöbling’s dead, but also those from Unterdöbling, which had been included in the new parish. The cemetery was created at the edge of Unterdöbling, on the road to Grinzing (today known as the Billrothstraße), but it had to be closed in 1885 as it neared capacity. The area was transformed into the Strauss-Lanner-Park in 1928.

The Döbling Cemetery

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Jewish section
 
Döbling nuns’ section

Permission to found a new cemetery was granted to the communities of Oberdöbling and Unterdöbling by the imperial district authorities in Hernals on 28 April 1880. The site chosen for the new cemetery covered a rhomboid-shaped area 7.5 jochs in size (a Joch is an old measurement equivalent to 0.5755 hectares in Austria) on the Türkenschanze. The cemetery was designed by architects Avanzo and Lange to hold 30,000 graves. It was officially opened on 10 June 1885 by the Döbling parish priest, Dr. Hulesch.

The Döbling Cemetery was open to believers of all confessions. A Jewish section was opened in 1888, and on 13 February 1894, the city authorities approved the creation of a burial site for Muslim soldiers of the imperial territorial army. The Muslim section covered an area of 404.4 m2 with space for 40 individual graves. Its use for Muslim burials was approved for a period of 20 years; it was expanded by a further 157 m2 in 1900. In addition to members of these minorities and the dead from Oberdöbling and Unterdöbling, the cemetery also provided space for deceased persons from Vienna, as many did not want to be buried at the city's main cemetery, the Zentralfriedhof and the surrounding suburbs could charge a premium price for the service.

Expansion of the cemetery

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The Döbling Cemetery was expanded between 1899 and 1901 by 15,584 m2 onto land that was either bought or repossessed for this purpose. The site was expanded by a further 9334 m2 to 57,271 m2 in 1906. The Jewish section was enlarged into an unused section of the cemetery at the same time. The morgue was renovated between 1907 and 1908 and a chapel was built for consecrations. Thereafter, the Döbling Cemetery could not be expanded any further, so in 1911, it was decided to use the Grinzing Cemetery as a replacement. From April 1917, there were no more spaces in the Döbling Cemetery, and Döbling's dead had to be buried in Grinzing. Only after the ministry for military affairs decided to cease burying Muslim soldiers in Döbling in 1920 was it possible to use space in the cemetery allocated for this purpose for Christian graves instead, although the plots were not prepared until 1929 - 1931. When the cemetery was renovated in 1961, plots which had fallen into decay were freed up for reuse.

The morgue

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The morgue was renovated in 1925; a second holding room was also added at this time. Further work was conducted in 1931. In 1969, a refrigeration facility was added in the treatment room. Between 1971 and 1972, the storage hall was redesigned in accordance with plans drawn up by architect Erich Boltenstern. The rear wall of the apse was decorated by painter Hermann Bauch. The storage room, which was conceived to permit the holding of cremation ceremonies, has space for up to 160 people.

Graves of famous persons

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Graves dedicated in honour of well known individuals (see Ehrengrab)

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Karl Fellinger
 
John Haswell
 
Theodor Herzl (transferred to Jerusalem in 1949)
 
Erich and Gustav Tschermak

The Döbling Cemetery contains 67 graves dedicated in honour of notable individuals.[2]

Name Dates Profession
Rudolf Auspitz 1837–1906 Politician and economist
Josef Bergauer 1880–1947 Author
Helene Bettelheim-Gabillon 1857–1946 Author
Lorenz Böhler 1885–1973 Surgeon, founder of modern accident surgery
Karl von Borkowski 1829–1905 Architect
Alfred Burgau 1897–1964 Actor
Hugo Charlemont 1850–1939 Painter
Egmont Colerus 1888–1939 Author
Josef Danilowatz 1877–1945 Painter
Babette Devrient-Reinhold 1863–1940 Actor in theatre and film
Richard Eybner 1896–1986 Actor
Karl Fellinger 1904–2000 Doctor
Theodor Gomperz 1832–1912 Philosopher and author
Caroline von Gomperz-Bettelheim 1845–1925 Opera singer
Ernst Haeussermann 1916–1984 Theatre director
Ludo Hartmann 1865–1924 Politician and proponent of education for all
John Haswell 1812–1897 Engineer and railway constructor
Kurt Heintel 1924–2002 Actor
Theodor Herzl (transferred to Jerusalem in 1949) 1860–1904 Author and founder of modern Zionism
Anton Hlavaček 1842–1926 Painter
Josef Kainz 1858–1910 Actor
Franz Kopallik 1860–1931 Painter
Ernst Lecher 1856–1926 Physicist
Maximilian Leidesdorf 1819–1889 Psychiatrist
Adolf Lieben 1836–1914 Chemist, uncle of Robert von Lieben
Konrad Loewe 1856–1912 Actor
Julius Mannaberg 1860–1941 Doctor
Heinz Moog 1908–1989 Actor
Engelbert Mühlbacher 1843–1903 Historian and practitioner of diplomatics
Maria Nemeth (married name Grünauer) 1897–1967 Opera singer
Heinrich Obersteiner 1847–1922 Neurologist and psychiatrist
Georg Oeggl 1900–1954 Opera singer
Alfred Orel 1889–1967 Musicologist
Hans Robert Pippal 1915–1998 Painter
Josef Redlich 1869–1936 Lawyer and politician
Oswald Redlich 1858–1944 Historian
Rudolf Ribarz 1848–1904 Painter
Ferdinand von Saar 1833–1906 Author
Ferdinand Schmutzer 1870–1928 Graphic artist, photographer and portraitist
Egon Schweidler 1873–1948 Physicist
Otto Skorzeny 1908–1975 SS-Obersturmbannführer
Kurt Sowinetz 1928–1991 Actor
Otto Tressler 1871–1965 Actor
Erich Tschermak 1871–1962 Geneticist and botanist
Gustav Tschermak 1836–1927 Mineralogist
Eduard Veith 1858–1925 Painter
Eduard Volters 1904–1972 Actor
Rudolf Weyr 1847–1914 Sculptor
Emil Zuckerkandl 1849–1910 Anatomist and anthropologist

Other graves of famous persons

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Emil and Jella Hertzka

Other famous people buried in Döbling are:

Name Dates Profession
Rosy Barsony 1909–1977 Operetta singer
Felix Benedict 1860–1917 Opera singer
Moriz Benedikt 1849–1920 Journalist
Jörg Böhler 1917–2005 Surgeon (son of Lorenz Böhler)
Maria Cebotari 1910–1949 Opera singer
Rudolf Chrobak 1843–1910 Gynaecologist
Gustav Diessl 1899–1948 Actor
Friedrich Engel-Jánosi 1893–1978 Historian
Erik Frey 1908–1988 Actor
Friedrich Goldscheider 1845–1897 Ceramics dealer
Gertrude Grob-Prandl 1917–1995 Opera singer
Reinhold Häussermann 1884–1947 Actor, father of Ernst Haeusserman
Ernst Hartmann 1844–1911 Actor
Emil Hertzka 1869–1932 Director of Universal Edition
Peter Herz 1895–1987 Author, librettist, cabaret artist and lyricist
Wilhelm Jerusalem 1854–1923 Pedagogue and philosopher
Fritz Kachler 1887-1975 World champion athlete and engineer
Max Kassowitz 1842–1913 Paediatrician
Ignaz von Kuffner 1892–1938 Entrepreneur, son of Moriz von Kuffner
Ignatz Lieben 1805–1862 Merchant and banker
Robert von Lieben 1878–1913 Physicist and inventor
Franz von Matsch 1861–1942 Painter and sculptor
Josef Mikl 1929–2008 Painter and graphic artist
Wilhelm Miklas 1872–1956 President of Austria (1928–1938)
Ludwig Minkus 1826–1917 Composer
Marie-Louise von Motesiczky 1906–1996 Painter
Susi Nicoletti 1918–2005 Actor
Johann Radon 1887–1956 Mathematician
Heinrich Reinhardt 1865–1922 Composer
Helene Schneeberger 1843–1898 Actress
Franz von Schönthan [de] 1849–1913 Journalist and author
Emmerich Schrenk 1915–1988 Actor
Karl von Škoda 1878–1929 Engineer and industrialist
Rudolf Sommer 1852–1913 Actor
Adolf von Sonnenthal 1834–1909 Actor
Eduard Todesco 1814–1887 Entrepreneur, banker and philanthrope
Moritz Todesco 1816–1873 Entrepreneur, banker and patron of the arts
Rudolf Weys 1898–1978 Writer of cabaret and author
Alexander Witeschnik 1909–1993 Composer
Johann Zacherl 1814–1888 Manufacturer
Karl Ziegler 1886–1944 Chamber singer

References

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  1. ^ Döblinger Friedhof Archived 2011-10-08 at the Wayback Machine auf den Seiten der Friedhöfe Wien GmbH, accessed 4 December 2008 (in German)
  2. ^ www.friedhoefewien.at – Ehrengräber des Friedhofs Döbling, Jänner 2008 (PDF, accessed 5 December 2008) (in German)

Further reading

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  • Felix Czeike: Historisches Lexikon Wien, Band 2. Verlag Kremayr & Scheriau, Wien 1993, ISBN 3-218-00547-7, p. 46f. (in German)
  • Werner T. Bauer: Wiener Friedhofsführer. Genaue Beschreibung sämtlicher Begräbnisstätten nebst einer Geschichte des Wiener Bestattungswesens. Falter Verlag, Wien 2004, ISBN 3-85439-335-0. (in German)
  • Tim Corbett: “Was ich den Juden war, wird eine kommende Zeit besser beurteilen...”. Myth and Memory at Theodor Herzl's Original Gravesite in Vienna, in: S:I.M.O.N. SHOAH: INTERVENTION. METHODS. DOCUMENTATION 3 (2016) 1, 64-88: https://simon-ojs.vwi.ac.at/index.php/simon/issue/view/8
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