{"id":12206,"date":"2016-08-03T20:18:57","date_gmt":"2016-08-04T02:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/?p=12206"},"modified":"2016-08-04T06:08:24","modified_gmt":"2016-08-04T12:08:24","slug":"sunlight-and-shadows-in-viennas-city-of-the-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2016\/08\/03\/sunlight-and-shadows-in-viennas-city-of-the-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunlight and Shadows in Vienna’s City of the Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

There are two kinds of people in the world (well, to be honest there are more than two, but for the purposes of this post there are only two):\u00a0\u00a0those who love graveyards and those who don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

You might think that cemeteries are creepy and depressing, places that are best avoided except when absolutely necessary. If you think that, read no further.<\/p>\n

But if you love wandering through graveyards, if you find them evocative places for contemplation and admire their melancholy beauty, then come along with me today to one of the best cemeteries in the world: the Zentralfriedhof<\/em>, the Central Cemetery of Vienna.<\/p>\n

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An angel in the Central Cemetery of Vienna. (Lori Erickson photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bob and I were in\u00a0Vienna and the surrounding area in June, visiting friends and touring. We saw\u00a0many wonderful sites, but\u00a0when I think back on our\u00a0trip, I\u00a0keep coming back to the morning we spent wandering among the tombs and grave markers of the Central Cemetery.<\/p>\n

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A marker in the Old Jewish section of the Central Cemetery of Vienna. (Lori Erickson photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Established\u00a0in 1874, the\u00a0Vienna Central Cemetery is one of Europe\u2019s largest, with more than 300,000 graves (because they were often re-used, the number of bodies here is actually closer to three million).<\/p>\n

Vienna has long\u00a0been an multi-ethnic, multi-faith city, and its diversity is reflected in the markers in its graveyard. In the Old Jewish section, for example, there are markers dating back to\u00a0the pre-World War II era of the city,\u00a0a reminder of the days when Vienna was one of Europe\u2019s most vibrant centers for Jewish life and culture. A short walks leads to a section which has\u00a0graves marked with Orthodox iconography and names showing the Eastern European origins of the deceased. There are also Catholic, Protestant, Islamic, Buddhist<\/a> and even Mormon graves.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the section devoted to musicians, for Vienna is, above all, a city of music. Many of the world\u2019s greatest musicians are buried here, including Johannes Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, and Johann Strauss. There\u2019s also an honorary marker for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He was\u00a0buried in a group grave at Vienna\u2019s St. Marx Cemetery, but as the location was unmarked, this cemetery seized\u00a0the opportunity to have him here in spirit\u2014for Mozart continues to draw a crowd, even in death.<\/p>\n

One historian\u00a0puts it this way: \u201cIn Vienna, you have to die first before they celebrate your life. But after that, you live long.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The grave of Johann Strauss has cherubs dancing to a waltz. (Lori Erickson photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The musicians\u2019 graves are a pilgrimage spot for people from around the world. I especially loved the marker for\u00a0Johann Strauss (see above). Just look at those cherubs doing a Viennese waltz on his marker. Now there\u2019s a grave marker! I\u2019ve told my family that I\u2019d like to\u00a0have something similar marking my final resting place.<\/p>\n

And while we\u2019re on the subject of the heavenly host, let me say that this cemetery has better angels than any other graveyard I\u2019ve seen. There are somber\u00a0angels and little cute ones, ones with huge wings and others\u00a0with fairy-sized wings that don\u2019t look like they\u2019d carry them very far. Frankly, some of the statuary is a little over-the-top, the equivalent of a Viennese pastry topped with a huge dollop of whipped cream, but I have a very high tolerance for\u00a0angel statues and\u00a0so I didn\u2019t mind.<\/p>\n

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This angel in the Central Cemetery of Vienna has apparently had a hard night. (Bob Sessions photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This cemetery even has a Funeral Museum, which I was thrilled to tour (it helped make up for the fact that my family wasn\u2019t interested in touring the Museum of Funeral\u00a0Customs in Springfield, Illinois, when we visited the city years ago).<\/p>\n

According to the Vienna Funeral Museum<\/a>, the\u00a0Viennese have a special relationship with death. A \u2018good send off\u2019 of a funeral is meant to reflect the fact that all aspects of life, including its end, should be celebrated.<\/p>\n

Elaborate Viennese funerals became popular as the rising middle class of the nineteenth century wanted their own version of those of the nobility. There were carefully choreographed\u00a0parts to the ritual\u2014the laying out of the body, the cortege to the place of burial, and the gravestone, which were all meant to convey the deceased status. Death masks\u2014a plaster cast of the face just after death\u2014also became popular as a way to remember the deceased. There are a number of these in the museum, the faces somber and oddly riveting.<\/p>\n

Other exhibits in the museum include a \u201chit parade\u201d of the most commonly selected funeral songs in Vienna, a horse-drawn hearse from 1900, and a coffin alarm which could be triggered by individuals unfortunate enough to be buried alive.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all slightly creepy and strangely fascinating, especially if (like me) you love graveyards. The cemetery and museum\u00a0seemed like a fitting counterpoint, somehow, to the gaiety and elegance of the rest of the city. The Viennese know that a\u00a0masterpiece, whether it\u2019s a life or a piece of music or a city, needs both sunlight and shadow.<\/p>\n

So let\u00a0me leave you with a Viennese waltz like the one those cherubs are\u00a0dancing to on the grave of Johann Strauss\u2013it\u2019s sprightly and charming on the surface, but with just\u00a0a hint of melancholy underneath. Like Vienna.<\/p>\n