Graz Central Cemetery

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Graz central cemetery with the central cemetery church
The 1961 monument to the victims of fascism ( location ), architect Boris Kobe

The Graz Central Cemetery is the largest cemetery in Graz . The interdenominational communal cemetery is owned by the Catholic parish .

description

The entire cemetery area covers an area of ​​around 25 hectares with more than 6.5 kilometers of path network and around 30,000 burials. The cemetery is interdenominational and has, in addition to the Central Cemetery Church , an Old Catholic section, a Ukrainian section, graves of the victims of both world wars and, since 1995, an Islamic burial ground. In 2010, a 150 m² interdenominational ceremony hall and another Muslim burial ground were opened. In the cemetery there are numerous honorary graves of the city of Graz and many culturally and historically valuable grave monuments by artists such as Hans Brandstetter , Wilhelm Gösser or Richard Jakitsch .

history

The main buildings were planned by Carl Lauzil from 1885 with a neo-Gothic brick facade and built from 1886. A spatial separation of infectious and non- infectious corpses was associated with the structural concept of the architect Lauzil . At the time of construction, this division was considered an exemplary technical and hygienic solution. In order to enable the bereaved of an infected corpse to say goodbye personally with laying out , the separate laying out hall was provided with an open walkway, which allowed a view of the respective corpse through windows with airtight mirrors . The first burial at the Graz Central Cemetery took place on February 1, 1896 (field 10b 5 1). This is the then 29-year-old metal lathe operator Rudolf Wlasak, who died during the construction work on the Central Cemetery Church.

As a new form of burial there has been a heavenly spiral ( location ) at the Graz Central Cemetery since 2009 , where urn burials of ashes are possible in the cycle of nature and, for the first time in Austria, virtual candles can be lit in memory of the deceased. Since April 7, 2016 there is a new urn park, designed by the architects Veronika Hofrichter-Ritter and Gernot Ritter with conical-arched, sloping walls.

Entrance portal of the central cemetery

Burials

Honor graves

Graves without honor status

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Entry on Graz Central Cemetery in the Austria Forum , author / editor: Robert Engele
  2. ↑ Kleine Zeitung of June 19, 2010, p. 29.
  3. ↑ Stefan Fayans: Funeral Facilities (Handbook of Architecture, 4th Part, 8th Half Volume, Book 3). Stuttgart 1907, pp. 75-76
  4. ↑ www.himmelsspirale.at
  5. ↑ Johanna Vucak: Grazer want to live forever in: Grazer of 12 April 2009, p. 13
  6. ↑ New Urn Park at the Central Cemetery, Kronenzeitung, Steirerkrone, April 10, 2016, p. 20.
  7. ↑ https://www.biographien.ac.at/oebl/oebl_S/Schmerz_Hermann_1881_1941.xml
  8. ↑ http://unipub.uni-graz.at/obvugrhs/content/titleinfo/252081

literature

  • Karin Derler, Ingrid Urbanek: Planning for Infinity - The Graz Central Cemetery . Steirische Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, 2002. ISBN 3-85489-086-9

Web links

Commons : Zentralfriedhof Graz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 47 ° 2 ′ 41.7 "  N , 15 ° 25 ′ 29.5"  E

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