Währinger Schubert Park
The Schubert Park is a park in the 18th Vienna district , Währing , on the site of the abandoned 1925 Währing cemetery was opened. A grave grove shows tombstones of celebrities once buried here.
location
The Schubertpark with an area of around 14,000 m² is located on Währinger Straße between house numbers 123 and 123A in the Währing part of the 18th district. It is bounded (clockwise) by Währinger Straße to the north, Weimarer Straße to the east, Schulgasse to the south and Teschnergasse to the west.
history
Währinger local cemetery
Originally, the deceased were buried in Währing around the parish church of St. Gertrud in the churchyard. The dead from the villages of Weinhaus , Gersthof and Pötzleinsdorf , which belong to the parish , were also buried here. Since the new construction of the parish church in 1753 required additional space and the cemetery had no expansion possibilities due to neighboring buildings and the resistance of the neighbors, the construction of a new cemetery became necessary.
The increase in population also made the expansion of the cemetery area essential. When five corpses had to be buried in one grave due to a lack of space and the deadlines were shortened so much that the process of decay was no longer completed, the cemetery in the churchyard was ordered to be closed.
Pastor Andreas Schwarzenbach now had to find a plot of land to build a new cemetery. Since many landowners feared the devaluation of the adjacent parcels, Schwarzenbach was unable to find a suitable plot of land for a long time. Contracts that had already been concluded were often canceled after the seller had been informed about the purpose of the purchase. Pastor Schwarzenbach therefore had a middleman purchase a piece of land for 50 ducats on the way to Hernals (today Martinstrasse) with a size of half a yoke . However, when the seller, Dominik Rebell, learned that a cemetery was to be built on his field, he intervened with the district chief. Since cemeteries should not be too close to residential areas, the district chief suggested a land swap. Rebell finally agreed and gave the pastor about twice as large a plot of land above the Halterhaus (it was at the current address at Währinger Strasse 123). In addition, Rebel undertook to carry out the planking and the construction of an access road itself.
The new Währing local cemetery was consecrated by Schwarzenbach on February 24, 1769. The cemetery, which was built in the classicism style and designed in the Biedermeier period , was mainly used as a burial place for the dead in Währing and Weinhaus. Until the Gersthofer Friedhof and the Pötzleinsdorfer Friedhof were established in 1785, the dead from these two places continued to be buried in Währing.
Soon, however, the cemetery also became popular with wealthy Viennese citizens. In order to prevent the cemetery from being used up too quickly, the parish introduced conditions for the burial of non-residents. A separate grave had to be acquired for the burial and a 1st or 2nd class conductor had to be paid for in the local church .
After the Nicolaifriedhof in the then suburb of Landstrasse was closed in 1784 , a late Baroque crucifixion group (the former burial site of the Imperial and Royal Jeweler Josef Friedrich Schwab) was moved to the Währing local cemetery. The old cemetery in the churchyard of the parish church fell into disrepair over time. After the grave crosses were cleared, the cemetery finally disappeared in 1796. Today only a few gravestones set into the church wall and the wooden crucifix that was donated to the cemetery by Maria Sidonia Raison von Klöckenfeld in 1745 remind of him.
At the end of the 1820s, the Währing local cemetery was expanded. For this purpose Pastor Johann Hayek carried out a collection. In 1827 the empire portal and the grave digger's house were financed from the donations and built by master builder Adolf Korompay. The cemetery chapel was built in 1829 and consecrated by Dean Wendelin Simerdinger on September 2, 1829. In 1832 the wax dealer Christoph Wishofer had a new access ramp built. The inscription on the portal, “Place of Rest”, was replaced by the words “Your resurrection, the strength of our hope”.
In 1837 the first lack of space made itself felt. Wishofer therefore acquired a field adjacent to the north and in 1840 bought a plot of land on the western wall, which he donated to the parish. The new part of the cemetery was consecrated on October 3, 1841. The house owner Anna Gsenger donated a cemetery cross for the new part of the cemetery on the occasion of the death of her son Matthias.
A curiosity of the cemetery is described in a hiking guide from the Biedermeier period, the work " Vienna's Environs for Twenty Hours Around " by Adolf Schmidl from 1835:
- The beautiful Todtenkapelle deserves a special mention with two altar leaves by Ampichl, which the kk Rath Joh. Peter had built in 1828, and provided with a "rescue alarm clock", which must be recommended as a model for institutions to prevent the burial of apparent deaths. A drawing of it is exhibited in the chapel for general viewing.
Since the municipality of Währing developed more and more from a farming and craft village to a small town in the middle of the 19th century, the cemetery was soon surrounded by houses. Against the opposition of the parish, the authorities pushed through the closure of the facility. After a good 100 years and around 200 burials per year, the Währing local cemetery was closed on April 26, 1873. The dead were only allowed to be buried in existing tombs in exceptional cases. After the cemetery was closed, the area gradually overgrown. The remains of the most important dead had been earthed and buried in other cemeteries. The remaining graves were stripped of their metals and tombs ransacked. The municipality of Vienna finally acquired the site in 1912 with the aim of converting the cemetery into a park.
Well-known personalities buried here
The most famous personalities who were buried in the Währing local cemetery include composers and poets in particular. The tombs of Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert can still be found on the outer wall of the graveyard (see below ). Alma von Goethe , a granddaughter of the poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , also found her resting place nearby in 1844 . Her bones were transferred to Weimar in June 1885 . Even Johann Nestroy and Franz Grillparzer were worn on the Währing cemetery to the grave.
Franz Grillparzer was buried in a crypt on the south wall shortly before the cemetery was closed on January 25, 1872. As early as 1879, his body was transferred to the Fröhlich family's crypt in the Hietzingen cemetery . Nestroy finally found his final resting place in a grave of honor in Vienna's central cemetery . Other well-known personalities who were buried in the cemetery were the painter Johann Baptist Lampi , the sculptor Johann Martin Fischer , the violinist Franz Clement , the composer Ignaz von Seyfried , the singer Therese Rosenbaum (née Gassmann ), the hygienist Johann Peter Frank and the court actress Antonie Adamberger . Tombs were also erected for numerous noble families, including Colloredo , Czartoryski , Gatterburg , Mailath , Hohenlohe , O'Donnell, Thun and Hohenstein and Wickenburg .
Schubert Park
From 1924 to 1925 the plan to convert the cemetery into a park was implemented. After the redesign by Karl Dirnhuber, only a grave grove with around forty historically valuable Biedermeier tombs, enclosed by a wall , remained of the original graves . The former grave sites of Beethoven and Schubert have also been preserved.
The park was laid out in a geometric style and provided with a pavilion and a milk drinking hall. Additional elements were a pergola, a fountain, walls, stairs and a ramp, as well as benches and candelabra . The fountain in the park and the milk drinking hall no longer exist today.
On the occasion of the opening of the park, Mayor Karl Seitz planted an oak tree, and in 1928 the Währing men's choir planted a Schubert linden tree. Memorial stones on both trees remind of the planting.
In 2003, a car garage was built under the park and the park was redesigned as part of the construction work, which initially met with violent protests. A new play and sports area has also been set up. On July 22, 2005 the park was reopened.
Grave grove
The grave grove includes around forty important Biedermeier and early historical tombs from the former Währingen local cemetery. The center of the burial grove is formed by the crucifixion group.
Crucifixion group
The most important sculpture in the grave grove is the large crucifix opposite the entrance gate. It is considered the work of the Baroque sculptor Balthasar Permoser and was executed in the style of the Strudel direction ( Vienna plague column ). The late Baroque crucifixion group comes from the Nicolaifriedhof in the then suburb of Landstrasse. Prince Eugene of Savoy , who presumably commissioned the work, had the crucifix set up in the cemetery near his summer residence. After the Nicolai cemetery was closed in 1784, the kk court jeweler Josef Friedrich Schwab had the crucifix set up in the Währing local cemetery in 1785. An inscription shows that the members of this Weinhauser family were buried at the foot of the crucifixion group. The base of the crucifix is surrounded by a balustrade, on the front corners of which John and Mary are depicted. The cross itself is dominated by the crucified Savior, who is enthroned on a slender tower of cloud. The blood flowing from the side wound is caught by an angel . At the feet of Jesus is Mary Magdalene , who directs the painful gaze on the crucified. Putti are grouped around the base , holding lanterns and inscription cartouches in their hands. A putti, which was added later, adorns the otherwise unadorned rear of the statue, which was originally aimed at purely frontal effects.
Other tombs
Most of the surviving tombs date from around 1800. Models for many of the tombs come from antiquity . This becomes clear, for example, in the gravestones of the Raininger, Lemnik and Princess Sanguszko families, which are reminiscent of Greek temples with their column arrangements. The artist who created the tomb of the Poller family, on the other hand, was inspired by the tomb in the Augustinian Church for Marie Christine of Austria by Antonio Canova . There are also several mourning figures on the gravestones. There are mourning women at the grave of the Lummer and Frauer family, and girls mourn the deceased at the grave of Princess Sangusko. By contrast, a heavily armed Greek warrior kneels at the gravestone of Count Clary-Aldringen. Several wrought iron crosses have also been preserved. One is to the left of the entrance, seven more under a canopy in the left corner of the grove.
Beethoven and Schubert's tombs
The tombs of Ludwig van Beethoven († 1827) and Franz Schubert († 1828) are located outside the actual grave grove on the eastern wall.
Beethoven's grave, which was designed by Ferdinand Schubert , is surmounted by a granite obelisk. The obelisk is adorned with a lyre . Above this is a snake ring ( ouroboros ) which encloses a bee . The Ouroboros symbolizes eternity or cosmic unity and the bee refers to royal blood based on the Egyptian model ( as it is still used today, e.g. in the English royal family ), and the tomb immediately shows the connection to Napoleon, who was revered by Beethoven Bonaparte, who was initiated in a pyramid and was successful in Europe. The date of Beethoven's burial and death in black letters on the base of the tomb. He was buried on March 29, 1827 in the Währing local cemetery.
Shortly before his death, Franz Schubert expressed the wish to be buried near Beethoven's tomb. Schubert died on November 19, 1828 and was buried on November 21, 1828, only two graves next to Beethoven. His tomb, which was built according to the plans of his friend Franz von Schober , has ancient features. The bust of Schubert is by Franz Dialer , the grave inscription "Tonkunst buried rich possessions here, but much better hopes" by Franz Grillparzer . Long after his death, Schubert's brother advocated that he should be buried right next to Beethoven, as this was initially not recognized.
The remains of the two composers were first buried on October 13, 1863. Since the cemetery grounds were relatively humid, the coffins had suffered badly and the skeletons were extremely brittle. The skeletons were measured by the anthropological society, and plaster casts were made of the skulls. Then the skeletons were reburied in sealed tin coffins, which were placed in freshly lined tombs. Originally, the dead were supposed to find their final resting place in the newly built Votive Church , but ultimately the remains of the two composers were buried in honor graves of the municipality of Vienna in the Vienna Central Cemetery in 1888 .
See also
Footnotes
- ^ Adolf Schmidl: Vienna's surroundings for twenty hours in a circle. Described by Adolf Schmidl after his own hikes. Printed and published by Carl Gerold, Vienna 1835, p. 79.
- ↑ Währinger Heimatbuch. Pp. 624-626
- ↑ Währinger Heimatbuch. P. 616
- ↑ Währinger Heimatbuch. Pp. 619-620
- ↑ Währinger Heimatbuch. Pp. 620-624
literature
- Hans Pemmer: The grave grove in Schubert Park and the former Währingen local cemetery . Self-published, Vienna 1949
- Hermann Wiessner: The cemeteries. In: Working group "Währinger Heimatbuch" (Hrsg.): Währing. A home book of the 18th district of Vienna. Vienna 1923, pp. 611–639
Web links
Coordinates: 48 ° 13 ′ 35 ″ N , 16 ° 20 ′ 22 ″ E