Grave Encounters
Vienna's Central Cemetery
Yesterday was lovely but not much to write home about. I spent the vast majority of the day in the Kunsthistorisches and the Wien Museum cafe working on assignments before heading to the Naschmarkt to buy supplies for a little charcuterie picnic at Schonbrunn. I had a lovely time, but today has far more to talk about, even if this view was unbeatable.
Today, after my parents arrived in Vienna to see the city and prepare for our post-program travels in Venice and Bologna, I went to the Central Cemetery with Johannes and the rest of our group. Unlike the cemeteries in Eisenstadt and Wiener Neustadt this was a little more cheerful of an affair.
Despite its name, the Central Cemetery is NOT in the center of town, it's called that solely for its significance as the largest and most important of Vienna's graveyards. Because the 71 is the streetcar line that takes you from downtown to the Cemetery, "taking the 71" has become a sort-of Viennese slang for death, in the vain of "kick the bucket."
Unlike many other cemeteries, this one didn't start small and then grow. In 1863, there became a need for larger cemeteries to accommodate the growing Viennese population that had resulted from industrialization. Because of his history as the director of Eisenstadt's Jewish Museum and his vast knowledge of Jewish History in Austria, Johannes was a wonderful tour guide through the extensive Jewish section of the cemetery.
Immediately, I noticed the difference between the Jewish cemetery here and the ones in Eisenstadt. Unlike in Eisenstadt, there is a large Jewish community in Vienna that works to maintain the cemetery and ensure it is presentable and that the history on display there remains available for anyone to learn from. The only reason this cemetery still exists is that the Nazis were too busy to destroy Jewish cemeteries. Had they been in power for longer, they likely would have gotten around to it but didn't have time before the war ended. Far more damage was done to the cemetery by American bombers after the war was done dropping their final payloads in what seemed to be an uninhabited area so the weight wouldn't slow their flight home. This grave, that of Sigmund Grossman, was in a section for Jewish heroes in World War I. His stone may not be special and his story not unique but it is a tragic one. After giving his life for his country and serving in the worst war the world had ever seen up to that point, his wife was murdered for being Jewish mere years later.
The pitcher at the top of this grave signifies the deceased's role as a Levite, a person in charge of washing the hands of a Jewish priest. In the Jewish tradition, a Kohen, or priest, is different from a rabbi and, unlike becoming a rabbi, you cannot decide to become a Kohen. Kohen and Levite are titles passed down from father to son, and their graves are marched with the Levite Pitcher and Kohen Blessing Hands respectively. Also on this grave is the mark of a Freemason, a fraternal organization with many Jewish members in its Austrian chapters, unlike its American counterparts. The Blessing Hands of the Kohen look like two "Live Long and Prosper" symbols put together. The reason for this similarity between a centuries old Jewish tradition and Star Trek is because of Leonard Nimoy's Jewish heritage. When he was coming up with the now iconic gesture, Nimoy turned to the symbol of the Kohanim for inspiration.
While this Levite grave is for someone named Kraemer, many Levite graves belong to people named Levy (from Levite) or Segal. The Hebrew letters for S, G, and L are an acronym for the official title of the Levites. Since Hebrew doesn't have vowels, the acronym is pronounced Segal, leading to the prominence of the last name in Jewish communities.
Once we had completed our walk through the Jewish section, Johannes dropped us off in the Christian section to see the many historical celebrity graves.
This is the grave of Ludwig von Beethoven. Unlike Mozart, Beethoven's grave is marked and his body is 100% under this gravestone. Mozart's body is a little more complicated. When Mozart died in 1791, he just happened to have passed in the worst possible time to die in Austrian history. Joseph II, as part of his efforts to modernize past his mother's rule, had very recently required that all coffins be reusable. This meant that Mozart was dumped into a mass grave from a coffin that had doors at the bottom so the body could fall. This decision was massively unpopular and was reversed almost immediately. Unfortunately, the damage was already done and literally no one knows where Mozart's real body is.
After looking at Beethoven's grave, we also got a chance to see the grave of a different musical legend: Austrian pop star Falco. Falco is the only artist to ever score a number 1 hit in the US with a German language song beating Nena's number 2 hit "99 Luftballons" with his "Rock Me Amadeus".
Once our tour of the Central Cemetery was done, we went to a schnitzel restaurant right across from the Cemetery's primary gate. As I've mentioned many times, I love Schnitzel but this is one of the best Schnitzels I've had here. It was so light and airy and the tartare sauce and jam they brought with it were perfect additions that really complimented the veal. I'm glad we got to have these two fun days because tomorrow is going to be brutal.
