For most of us, thoughts of Vienna at the end of the 19th century focus on Strauss waltzes, opulent architecture, fine pastries and wine, but it was also a period in which Vienna’s ‘romance with death’ was at its height.
At the city’s Central Cemetery, a quirky museum filled with artifacts ranging from morbid to quirky to just plain wacky tells the tale. Among the examples of wacky, consider the mascot above at a ‘selfie point’ in the museum and the variety of souvenirs in its gift shop.
The Funeral Museum, opened in 1967 is in the headquarters building of another unique Vienna institution: its public funeral service, Bestattung Wien, which for years was, in Vienna, literally the only way to go. Established in 1907, Bestattung Wien was officially the only funeral operation in the city from 1951 until EU competition regulations came along, and it still handles over 90%.
When the Austro-Hungarian empire and its Habsburg emperors were at their peak, both the already wealthy and the rising middle classes were nearly obsessed with the idea of a ‘schöne Leiche,’ or ‘beautiful corpse,’ and were prepared to pay handsomely to have everyone know they were doing right by their late relatives.
An entire set of industries grew up around this, providing the right funeral and mourning clothing, jewelry, uniforms, hats and more at special stores that specialized in the trade. Elaborate ceremonies were borrowed from Spanish and French court traditions.
The role of undertaker, originally handled by families and parishes grew wildly in the 19th century, but only became a licensed profession in 1884. By 1907, it was down to two large operators, which were bought out by the city to provide class-appropriate funerals, labeled First, Second and Third class, each with different levels of pomp, ceremony, equipment… and cost.
Another aspect of departure was memorial matter, designed not only to keep the memories of the departed but, it seems, to almost ostentatiously display appropriate grief to others. Above, an assortment of ‘Traueralbums,’ or ‘sorrow albums,’ along with death masks and a commemorative coffin key.
Sidenote, here: If you think there’s something odd about a coffin key, consider the device above, essentially a doorbell to be rung from inside a coffin. Should a corpse revive, gently tugging the strings attached to arms and legs was to ring a bell on the surface and trigger a rescue. Patented early in the century, before embalming became common.
Coffins were another way to display wealth and importance of the deceased, or of the family, becoming fairly elaborate, and of course expensive, with an almost unlimited choice of woods and decorations. The designs and catalogs above are late 19th century, quite different from the one below.
This one dates from the 1784, when Emperor Josef II ordered naked burials without coffins to hasten returning to nature and conserving wood and cloth. A lever opened the bottom and dropped the body into the grave, allowing easy re-use of the coffin. It was an unpopular idea, dropped within six months.
Once funerals moved from homes and parish churches with their own graveyards, vehicles were needed to move the casket. Originally horse-drawn, they were adapted over time to newer means of motion. The stylish design just above was by Joseph Hoffmann, a leading figure in Vienna’s turn-of-the-century art movements and a protege of Otto Wagner.
Hearses on rails: The one at top was built in 1918 to transport coffins to the cemetery because of a shortage of horses; it had a capacity of ten at a time in individual compartments. It was used again during World War II to save gas. The more elaborate rail hearse was used to transport the remains of the assassinated Empress Elisabeth, known as Sisi, from Geneva to Vienna. But let’s wait a while before we get to the royals.
Cremation came late to Vienna, largely because of Catholic Church opposition; it accounts for about 30% of funerals in Vienna today, well behind the average for most of Europe. But the public funeral agency, Bestattung Wien, has a wide variety of urns available, including acrylic decorate-it-yourself models. In its blunt way, the museum also shows the post-cremation processing of ashes.
And now we come to those for whom no expense, no ceremony would be spared: the members, fortunate and otherwise of the Habsburg royal family. Even in exile, they could be counted on to throw a good funeral, such as the one above in 1989 for Zita, last empress of Austria, turfed out in 1918 with her husband Karl I. She lived to 97; he died in 1922.
Funeral and memorial announcements for Franz Josef, who died in 1916, Karl, and between them, the couple who would have been Emperor and Empress had it not been for their assassination at Sarajevo in 1914. The document is an assurance from the royal palace to Bestattung Wien that the funeral costs for Franz Ferdinand and Sophie would be covered.
Above, a sign from a shop door notifying the public that the business was closing for the 1868 funeral of Maximilian, brother of Franz Josef, and the attempted Emperor of Mexico, who had been executed the year before in Mexico when his regime was overthrown. Below an invitation from the Mayor of Vienna to Sisi’s funeral, prescribing appropriate dress. Because of her popularity, only the mayor and vice-mayor were allowed in; other dignitaries were to wait in a different church nearby.
And now we come to a bit more comic relief, including a reminder that, as the ever-present ‘they’ say, everything passes. In this case, a famous painting of Madame Recamier by David (1800) and a less-famous rendition of the same scene by the Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte (1950) and the Funeral Museum’s very literal reproduction, produced at Bestattung’s own coffin factory.
And for those of you who are amused by the length of German words and sentences, here’s a sign that formerly stood in the cemetery. The first paragraph is one sentence, ads is the second.
Smoking tobacco, taking dogs, begging, peddling and selling, picking flowers or plants, any damage to gardens, scribbling on or damaging monuments and speeding within this cemetery is strictly prohibited.
Violations of the provisions of this announcement will be punished in accordance with sections 100 and 101 of the municipal statute with fines of up to 400 crowns or with a prison sentence of up to 14 days.
I enjoyed this article. It is educational and entertaining!
Thank you! It was quite interesting to see how seriously, and how not seriously, Vienna takes the subject. I just came across a Viennese joke about its Central Cemetery: “Half the size of Zurich and twice as much fun!”