Carriage rides in the city of the dead
Do you also want to follow in the footsteps of the authors Marliese Mendel and Alexandra Gruber, described in their book "50 Dinge die eine Wiener getan muss" (50 things a Viennese must have done), (Pichler-Verlag)? Then you've Do you also want to follow in the footsteps of the authors Marliese Mendel and Alexandra Gruber, described in their book "50 Dinge die eine Wiener getan muss" (50 things a Viennese must have done), (Pichler-Verlag)? Then you've come to the right place, because the Frank Wulf Fiakerbetrieb is the only one with a licence for tours of the Central Cemetery
You can reach me by phone at:
+43 (0) 699 181 54 022
Servus! Hello! Welcome !
Not out of tradition, but out of passion!
We show you one of the most magical places in Vienna – the Central Cemetery.
Frank Wulf is the only Viennese hackney carriage operator licensed to give tours of the Central Cemetery. Here you can expect over a thousand graves of honour, fantastic Art Nouveau architecture, as well as beautiful nature, which makes the cemetery a popular recreational area.
"Long live the central cemetery"
The Vienna Central Cemetery was opened in 1874 and is one of the largest cemeteries in Europe with an area of almost two and a half square kilometres and around 330,000 gravesites with around three million deceased. It has been extended seven times in the course of its history, most recently in 1921, and was considered the largest in Europe at the time of its opening. In terms of the number of buried, this is still true today; in terms of area, however, the four-square-kilometre Ohlsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg and Brookwood Cemetery near London are larger.
Honor graves
Through the main portal, you walk straight ahead and have a view of the cemetery church of St. Charles Borromeo, crowned by a large dome. On both sides of this main path you will find what is probably the largest complex of graves of honour in the world. Here, among others, are the graves of Johann Strauss father and son, Beethoven, Mozart (only monument), Brahms, Schubert, Hans Moser, Manfred Deix, Theo Lingen, Curd Jürgens
After the simple and minimised „savings funerals“ under Emperor Joseph II, in the second half of the 19th century the wealthy bourgeoisie tried to do the same as the aristocrats and staged ostentatious funeral ceremonies and burials. The much-quoted concept of the „schöne Leich“ was born. Even today, the „schöne Leich“ still attracts the interest of the Viennese population; state funerals of politicians as well as funerals of personalities from other creative fields are occasions for many people to pay their last respects to these prominent deceased. For example, when a Federal President is buried, the street leading from the main portal to the presidential tomb, flanked on both sides by groups of honourary graves, is the scene of long funeral processions. But representatives of contemporary pop culture are also sometimes bidden farewell on a grand scale: In February 1998, thousands of people attended the ceremonial burial of pop star Falco in a grave dedicated in honour.