Haydnpark is a

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

's twelfth

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

, Meidling. The park was built in 1926 on the remnants of an abandoned

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

, Hundsturmer Friedhof, which closed in 1874 when the

Vienna Central Cemetery The Vienna Central Cemetery () is one of the largest Cemetery, cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its significance as Vienna's big ...

was constructed. The park is named after

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

, who was originally buried in the cemetery. Today, the public park is maintained by Vienna's park management. It currently covers an area of approximately 13,000 m², and has 7,500 m² of youth sports facilities for

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, and other athletics.

Hundsturmer Cemetery

The original cemetery, Hundsturmer Friedhof, was established in 1783, as a result of Emperor Joseph II's reforms in response to the Enlightenment. Joseph II had decided that Vienna's cemeteries should no longer be within the city walls, and therefore five new cemeteries were built. Hundsturmer Friedhof, with an area of roughly 31,000 m², was the smallest of the five, the others being Sankt Marxer Friedhof, Matzleinsdorfer Friedhof, Währinger Friedhof, and Schmelzer Friedhof. The cemetery was named after the suburb in which it was founded, Hundsturm. As a result of re-zoning in the early 20th century, the park now lies within the district of Meidling rather than its namesake. In 1848, the cemetery became a center in the battles of the Vienna Uprising because of its strategic location on Vienna's defensive line at Gürtel. In 1926, a large new residential building, ''Reumannhof'', was erected and the old cemetery was converted into a recreational park. A children's pool was also constructed at the time, which no longer exists.

Famous memorials

The biedermeier style was distinctive of the headstones and memorials at Hundsturmer Friedhof. Empirical style gravestones and stone angels have been found, along with many graves from senior citizens.

, after whom the park is named, died on 31 May 1809, and was buried in the cemetery the very next day. It was not possible to give Haydn a grandiose burial, as French troops under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's command had occupied Vienna at the time. Haydn was later exhumed and transferred to Eisenstadt in 1820. It was discovered that his skull was missing, which had been stolen from the grave shortly after his funeral by followers of

Phrenology Phrenology is a pseudoscience that involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits. It is based on the concept that the Human brain, brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific ...

. The partially preserved headstone of Joseph Haydn is the only one that remains in the park today and stands as evidence of the former cemetery. It is inscribed with the phrase ''Non omnis moriar'' ("I do not die completely"). Wien_Haydnpark_Haydn-Grabstein

The famous painters Jakob Gauermann and Josef Danhauser were also buried at Hundsturmer. They were later transferred to an honorary grave at the

. File:Wien 12 Haydnpark d.jpg File:Wien 12 Haydnpark a.jpg File:Wien 12 Haydnpark h.jpg File:Wien Haydnpark Pergola Eingang Flurschützstraße.jpg

Hundsturmer Cemetery

Famous memorials

References

Further reading