Schmelzer cemetery

Memorial for those who died in the March Revolution of 1848 who were buried at the Schmelzer Friedhof until 1888

Plaque at the memorial stone for the dead of the March Revolution at the former Schmelzer Friedhof, today's March Park

The smelter cemetery was to replace the reign of Emperor Joseph II. Closed suburban cemeteries of Vienna outside the Linienwall created. He was closed to further burials in 1874. Since 1892, since the suburbs on the left bank of the city were incorporated, it was in the urban area of Vienna. The cemetery was abandoned after the First World War. Today, among other things, the March Park and the Wiener Stadthalle are located on the site .

history

Due to the “ Josephine Reforms ” decreed by Emperor Joseph II, all cemeteries within the line wall (e.g. within today's belt ) were closed for hygienic reasons . The so-called “communal cemeteries” were built as a replacement, these were the Sankt Marxer Friedhof , the Währinger Friedhof , the Hundsturmer Friedhof , the Matzleinsdorfer Friedhof and the 1782 laid out Schmelzer Friedhof. With an area of around 74,000 square meters, it was the largest of the cemeteries in the Vienna area at the time.

35 dead of the revolution of 1848 were also buried here, after the cemetery itself had become a battleground between mobile guards and imperial troops; After their exhumation in 1888, they were given a grave of honor in Vienna's central cemetery .

The stone and wrought-iron grave monuments are described by Rudolf Pichler as being artistically interesting, while the industrially manufactured cast-iron grave crosses that appeared in the middle of the 19th century were cheap mass-produced goods .

The opening of the Vienna Central Cemetery in 1874 marked the end of the “communal cemeteries”; new burials were no longer allowed here. After that, at the Schmelzer cemetery, the area of which was inclined to the new street grid that was being created, property was initially ceded on the edge areas and later roads were built across the cemetery grounds. Since 1892 the cemetery area was in the area of the city of Vienna.

In 1912, however, the city center end of Hütteldorfer Strasse was west of the cemetery (Zinkgasse); east of the cemetery (Löhrgasse) the parade road led from the Gürtel to him. After the First World War, 50 years after the cemetery was closed, it was completely abandoned.

The building site for the Vienna City Museum, which had been planned for a long time, was planned in the southwest quarter of Gottesackers. In order to preserve at least the most beautiful grave monuments, it was planned to set them up in a semicircle and to cover them with a roof together with a small chapel . In addition, a memorial was to be erected for knights of the Maria Theresa Order who were buried in the Schmelzer cemetery. Of all the projects that were largely planned during the monarchy , however, not a single one was implemented. In 1928 the "March Park" was laid out on part of the former cemetery area, the name of which recalls the victims of the March Revolution of 1848 who were buried here. On another part (15., Hütteldorfer Strasse 7–17), the 2nd vocational training school was built in 1925/1926, today the 2nd Vienna Central Vocational School. 1953–1958 the Wiener Stadthalle was built.

Celebrities buried

Numerous wealthy deceased from the suburbs of Neubau and Schottenfeld and, since 1850, the 6th and since 1861 7th district of Vienna - the so-called "Brillantengrund" - were buried in the Schmelzer Friedhof . Many trimmers and silk and ribbon manufacturers were named on the gravestones .

Among the celebrities buried here by Rudolf Pichler in 1912 were among others:

Feldzeugmeister Johann Freiherr von Kutschera, Imperial and Royal Privy Councilor and Adjutant General of Emperor Franz I.

Doctor Vinzenz Ritter von Kern, personal physician to Emperor Franz I.

Johann Wilhelm Klein , founder of the Institute for Education for the Blind , reburied in an honorary grave in Vienna's central cemetery

Louise von Sturmfeder , lady-in-waiting, educator of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Maximilian of Mexico , reburied in a grave of honor in Vienna's central cemetery in 1911