Facing Jerusalem: a fascinating and little known cemetery in the heart of the city

Behind a thick brick wall with barbed wire on top is one of the most fascinating and historically interesting cemeteries in Vienna: the Jewish cemetery in Währing. wieninternational.at visited the tombs to find out more about the life and death of the Jewish community in Vienna.

Destruction and dilapidation of a cultural monument

A visit to the Jewish cemetery in Währing has all the appearance of a hazardous enterprise, since admission to the site is possible only after signing a half-page liability waiver. The cemetery has been left untended for far too long and the necessary restoration work is long overdue, explains guide and historian Tina Walzer. And she should know: she has been involved in the cemetery for years, indefatigably researching its history and dealing with questions of restitution.

These questions are by their nature difficult to answer. At the same time it is clear that reasonable compensation for the damage caused by the Nazi regime that would permit it to be completely refurbished has not been forthcoming to date. The cemetery, which was founded in 1884 under Franz Josef II, was left alone by the Nazis for a time, and it was not until 1942 that many of the graves were dug up to build a fire-fighting reservoir. The excavated earth was used to fill bomb craters. Some of the mortal remains of the former cemetery occupants are also buried under the foundations of the Westbahnhof.




Tina Walzer has been tracing the whereabouts of some of these mortal remains following the large-scale exhumation by the Natural History Museum in 1943, in which several crypts were broken open and the bones of 250 prominent former Jewish citizens were removed for "anthropological race research". Most were returned to rest in the Central Cemetery in 1947 but 20 still remain unaccounted for. This is scant consolation considering that fact that in the Jewish faith it is vital that the position of the body is unchanged in the grave so as to ensure that it is ready for the resurrection. This is one of the reasons why the bodies in a Jewish cemetery are usually buried with their feet facing east so that on Judgement Day the resurrected souls can set off in the direction of Jerusalem.

Traditional heritage

For this reason, the Hebrew inscriptions on the gravestone are also normally on the side facing Jerusalem. This is not the case with many of the tombs in Währing cemetery, however, a circumstance that reveals how assimilated Vienna's Jewish community was in the 19th century. The symbols on some of the gravestones are further evidence of this. While Jewish symbols such as the hands raised in priestly blessing to indicate a Cohen or the pitcher signifying a Levite predominate in the section where the court Jews and religious representatives are buried, Biedermeier or Classicist floral elements are frequently found on the gravestones of the more secularised Jews.




Apart from the graves and tombs of rich and respected Jewish personalities and families, such as Siegfried Philipp Wertheimer or the Epstein family, the graves of poorer Jews are also to be found, buried with the assistance of Jewish burial societies. A further distinctive feature of the cemetery is the Sephardic section with its elaborate Ottoman tombs so rarely found north of the Alps.

Towards the perimeter, where the reservoir was dug, the situation is more confused and gravestones are heaped indiscriminately in the undergrowth. This is one of the areas that Tina Walzer would like work to be carried out. She would also like to see commemorative plaques on the wall next to the site of the reservoir and a clearer indication of the different sections of the cemetery. Some small progress has been made: two gravestones have been replaced and restored by relatives who appeared unexpectedly from the USA.

Information:

Währing Cemetery Semperstrasse 64A / Schrottenberggasse 1180 Vienna Purchased in 1784 by the growing Jewish community, the cemetery was continuously enlarged and served until 1789 as the main burial ground for the community. In an area of 21,209 m², a total of 8,593 persons were laid to rest. For reasons of security the cemetery is not open to the public at present, but in this year of commemoration, numerous guided tours are being offered by the Jewish community and the Initiative Währinger Jüdischer Friedhof. www.ikg-wien.at www.waehringer-friedhof.at

 

Buchtipps:

Martha Keil: Von Baronen und Branntweinern. Ein jüdischer Friedhof erzählt. (Stories of a jewish cemetery) photos by Daniel Kaldori; Mandelbaum Verlag 2007; 120 pages; € 24.90. Jüdisches Wien. Mit einem Vorwort von Robert Schindel. (Jewish Vienna. With a preface by Robert Schindel). Mandelbaum Verlag 2007; 191 pages; € 15,80.