| Sankt Marxer Friedhof | |
|---|---|
 The memorial of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | |
 | |
| Details | |
| Established | 1784 |
| Location | |
| Country | Austria |
| Type | Public(closed) |
| Size | ? |
| No. of graves | ? |
St. Marx Cemetery (Sankt Marxer Friedhof) is acemetery in theLandstraße district ofVienna, used from 1784 until 1874. It contains the unmarked grave of the composerWolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The cemetery was named after a nearbyalmshouse whose chapel had been consecrated toSt Mark. It opened in 1784 following a decree by EmperorJoseph II that forbade further burials in cemeteries within the outer walls of the city of Vienna. He also ordered that bodies should be buried in unmarked graves, without coffins or embalming. This regulation however never came into effect in Vienna, because the government of the city denied its approval because the populace did not want to be reminded of themass graves of plague times. There were no mass graves in late 18th-century Vienna.[1]
Thus the common assumption that Mozart's grave was unmarked because he was too poor is false. His burial in 1791 after a funeral in theStephansdom simply followed the regulations of the day.
It includes the graves of:
The most famous person to be buried in the St. Marx Cemetery isWolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Later attempts to locate his grave all failed, including a search by his widow, 17 years after Mozart's death, and byVincent Novello in 1829. In 1855 a gravestone was erected at what was presumed to be the correct spot. Later the stone was transferred to a group of famous musicians' graves atZentralfriedhof. At St. Marx Cemetery, a worker replaced the gravestone with a memorial tablet, which was again expanded by several contributors. The memorial known today was refurbished by Viennese sculptor Florian Josephu-Drouot in 1950.
Over the years, the rest of the cemetery decayed. In the 20th century it was restored, put underhistoric preservation status, and opened to the public in 1937.
| International | |
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| National | |
48°10′58″N16°24′06″E / 48.18278°N 16.40167°E /48.18278; 16.40167
