The largest German war cemetery of the Second World War in Austria is located at the Vienna Central Cemetery.
Cemetery description
Opened in 1874, it is one of the largest cemeteries in Europe with around three million burials in around 330,000 graves. The German war cemetery forms group 97 in the south of the cemetery. It is just under 1.5 kilometers on foot from the main entrance (Gate 2) and only around 300 meters from Gate 9 on Mylius-Bluntschli-Straße. A bus runs a circular route from the main entrance with 19 stops (public transport tickets). The German war cemetery is around 26,000 square meters in size.
The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. has placed over 3,500 natural stone crosses, each bearing the names of two deceased, on a continuous lawn to mark the graves. On the memorial square in the center of the cemetery stands a forged high cross framed by a semi-circular lawn. Behind it are plaques with the names of the more than 1,000 dead who could not be recovered or identified.
Occupancy
The total loss of life of the Wehrmacht in Austria is estimated at over 45,000. Vienna was also the scene of fierce fighting in the final phase of the war. The dead buried in the Central Cemetery are primarily Germans who died in the city and those who were initially buried in cemeteries in the wider area - around 2,000 German war dead from 52 suburban cemeteries in Vienna were buried here. Soldiers of the Wehrmacht are buried here, as are anti-aircraft helpers, members of the Waffen SS, police, Volkssturm, Reich Labor Service, German Red Cross ... There are around 7,300 in total.
History
The site has existed since 1939 and was extended and redesigned between 1969 and 1975. The Volksbund inaugurated the cemetery on October 25, 1975.
There is no war graves agreement between Germany and Austria. The Volksbund's work in Austria is based on the Austrian War Graves Commission Act of 1948 and the State Treaty of 1955 on the restoration of an independent and democratic Austria. Since the end of the 1960s, the Volksbund, with the approval of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, has established eleven collective cemeteries for German war dead of the Second World War throughout Austria. It recorded more than 30,000 graves. In the course of the reburials, many previously unknown dead were subsequently identified.
As the last German war cemetery in Austria, the Volksbund transferred the cemetery at the Central Cemetery to Austrian care at the beginning of 2025.
Since then, a plaque reads: "This cemetery is the result of a war of extermination and should therefore be understood as a direct consequence of war and violence. At the same time, it is a place of emotional significance and personal mourning. This place should remind us of the painful consequences of war and remind us to fight resolutely against all forms of anti-Semitism, racism and Nazi reactivation.
Special feature
The Central Cemetery is one of Vienna's special sights due to its many graves of honor, Art Nouveau buildings and extensive grounds.
Members of other nations who lost their lives as soldiers in both world wars rest near the German war cemetery. The Austro-Hungarian soldiers who died in the First World War lie in Group 91. Serbian soldiers who died in the First World War are buried in group 93. Group 88, which serves as a final resting place for Polish and French soldiers who died in the First World War, is directly adjacent to this cemetery. Russian, Romanian and Italian victims of the First World War are buried in Group 68A. Soviet war dead of the Second World War are buried in Group 44.
