Islamic Cemetery Vienna
The Islamic Cemetery Vienna is a cemetery of the Islamic Faith Community in the 23rd Vienna district of Liesing , Großmarktstrasse 2a. It was opened on October 3rd, 2008 as the first Islamic cemetery in Austria.
location
The Islamic Cemetery Vienna is located in the Blumental on the edge of the Liesingbach in the east of the Liesing district ( Inzersdorf district ). While the Liesing forms the border of the 34,500 m² site in the north, the cemetery is bordered by Laxenburger Strasse in the west , Haböckgasse in the south and Großmarktstrasse in the east.
history
Muslims have been buried in Vienna's central cemetery since the end of the 19th century . In the mid-1970s, the first Islamic department was created here, but it soon reached the limits of its capacities, which is why another Islamic and an Islamic-Egyptian department were established.
The establishment of a separate Islamic cemetery in Vienna was preceded by negotiations between the Islamic Faith Community in Austria and the City of Vienna, which took around two decades. After the two parties reached an agreement, the project was presented to the public in 2001. The opening should take place in 2003. The City of Vienna then made a plot of land in Liesing available and took over the leveling and fencing of the site. The construction of the cemetery building was the responsibility of the Islamic Faith Community, the necessary funds of around 1.4 million euros were raised by major donors such as the OPEC fund or the embassy of Qatar . Since the major donors only paid out their donations on presentation of an invoice, there were repeated delays in the progress of construction. This was also hampered by archaeological excavations and the bankruptcy of a construction company.
The cemetery was already the target of anti-Islamic attacks in the early stages. On the morning of April 9, 2006, a fire damaged the concrete formwork of a shell. Since several windows had been smashed and a wall had been smeared with the words "This will be blown up", the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter-Terrorism subsequently started an investigation "in the direction of arson attack". Politicians from all Viennese parties condemned the act. In mid-October, the cemetery walls were also smeared with 23 black crosses, where the number 23 could stand for the 23rd district.
After a delay of several years, the cemetery was opened at the end of Ramadan on October 3, 2008 and, when completed, will contain around 4,000 to 5,000 grave sites. Initially, the dead should be buried as deeply as possible in order to enable future generations to repopulate the grave sites. The graves are aligned according to the Qibla direction of prayer prescribed by the Koran and the dead are buried face-to-face towards Mecca . The dead wrapped in cloths are not buried in this form, as is usual in Islam, but - in accordance with Austrian regulations - buried in coffins. The first burial took place on March 27, 2009. The cemetery is the first Islamic cemetery in Austria, with the Islamic cemetery Altach there is another one since 2012 in the Vorarlberg community of Altach .
Individual evidence
- ↑ City hall correspondence of October 3, 2008
- ↑ Islamic Faith Community in Austria ( Memento of the original from July 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ ORF Vienna - Islamic Cemetery. Further delays in construction, November 5, 2006
- ↑ a b ORF Vienna - Islamic Cemetery only from 2008, 23 May 2007
- ^ ORF Vienna - arson attack on Islamic cemetery, April 9, 2006
- ^ ORF Vienna - Islamic cemetery desecrated, December 1, 2006
- ↑ The Standard Online “A minaret would not have fit in”. September 1, 2008
- ^ Liesing: Islamic Cemetery opens Wiener Zeitung, October 5, 2008
- ^ First Islamic cemetery opens on ORF accessed on October 3, 2008
- ^ First Islamic cemetery opens ORF Vorarlberg, June 2, 2012
literature
- Gertrud Barbara Brandstetter: The Islamic Cemetery in Vienna . Diploma thesis University of Vienna, Vienna 2009 ( online version )
Web links
- Islamic Faith Community in Austria - Islamic Cemetery Vienna
- gastarbajteri.at - Islamic Cemetery 2004
Coordinates: 48 ° 8 ′ 43 ″ N , 16 ° 21 ′ 49 ″ E