Simmering: District 11

11th District Crest

District 11, known as Simmering, is located in Southeastern Vienna.
To get there from the fourth district. Board the U1 at the Südtiroler Platz and change trains at Stephansplatz, boarding the U3. Our trip took us to the Zentralfriedhof, located on the edge of the district.

Once on the U3, take it all the way to the end of the line. Exit the station, hop on a tram heading Southeast, and the Straßenbahn stops at four of the many gates to the cemetery.

Upon descending from the Strassenbahn we were met with the sight of the tall brick walls of the Zentralfriedhof, which have been standing for nearly 150 years.

Map of the Districts of Vienna,
Simmering is bolded

The northwest corner of the graveyard, where we entered, is home to the nearly 80,000 Jews interred on the grounds. A lightly maintained grass pathway leads through the weather-worn Jewish tomb stones. A majority of the graves are completely overgrown by wild brambles and tall grass, hinting that the descendents of the buried most likely moved away from Vienna over the years.
   
As we wandered further along the grassy pathway, taking an endless number of turns, we began to see Jewish tombstones that have been completely destroyed, headstones toppled over, and ivy growing over the monuments to the departed. Rubble is all that remains of hundreds of stones, owing to their destruction during Kristallnacht in 1938.

As we walked further through the rows and rows of overgrown graves. The undergrowth began to clear and and the trees started to thin. Emerging from the trees we stumbled into a different section of the cemetery.

Here the headstones were packed tightly together. They were clean and ordered in rows that you could see over. Countless graves in row upon neat row.

The contrast between the two sections of the Zentralfriedhof were startling. In the Jewish section there was an oppressive feel amongst the graves, with the untamed grass, destroyed grave markers, wildly growing trees and creeping ivies. While this newer section, a Christian section, was ordered and clear, with more open spaces. Beyond that though was the noticeable difference in the age of the is part of the cemetery.

Aerial shot the center of the Zentralfriedhof,
the Jewish section we were in
is off the photo on the right hand side

Where the Jewish section had familial plats from the 1800s, while the majority of the markers in this section were from the early to mid-twentieth century. The Jewish section we were in is listed on maps as the Alter jüdischer Friedhof. We didn't realize that there was another Jewish section on the other end of the graveyard until later.

Wandering through this rows of names and families, we stumbled upon a collection of well known graves on the central street of the Zentralfriedhof.

Right before the Karl-Borromäus-Kirche in a section all to themselves are the graves of great Austrian Musicians, like Schubert, Mozart, and Beethoven, surrounded by other great Austrian thinkers, explorers and engineers.

Walking from the grove of graves, towards the Karl-Borromäus-Kirche, we found the crypt of Austrian Federal Presidents in front of the Kirche, where the Austrian Federal Presidents have been laid to rest.

The church itself was quiet and large, devoid of noise, much like the cemetery itself. Completed at the turn of the twentieth century, during the latter years of Franz-Joseph's reign.

As we made our way out of the church, down the main road and eventually left the graveyard, our legs were getting so tired that even stepping onto the tram was a exhausting. We were so distracted by the thousands of tombs that we had not realized just how much we had walked and still had only managed to see portions of the graveyard.

In total the graveyard covers 2.4 square kilometers, making it the second largest in all of Europe. A saying even exists at Zurich's expense..."Halb so groß wie Zürich - aber doppelt so lustig ist der Wiener Zentralfriedhof! (half the size of Zurich and twice as much fun). This comes from the fact that its total area is only half the size of Zurich, but "population" is twice that of Zurich.

   

Once four large Gas tanks, Gasometer is now a shopping,
 housing, and entertainment complex

Other things to see in Simmering:

Simmering is not all doom and gloom, there are many other sites of interest.

Gasometer is home to a shopping mall, an entertainment complex, and housing. There is even if that floats your boat.

Schloss Neugebäude is the former hunting lodge of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II and offers an amazing look back into history.

- By Brendan Anderson and Hiram Munn