Friedhof hietzing cemetery: Cemeteries of Vienna

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The decoration of an elaborate tomb in Hietzing, a traditional upper-class cemetery.

An easy shot at the Hietzing Cemetery: Many tombstones, including this one, beg for being photographed with obvious compositions. In fact, it is much more challenging to present photographs of graves in a somewhat original manner. The pompousity of the Hietzing tombs often leave few choices to the photographer. Speaking of pompousity: The cemetery culture of Austria didn't really start until the early 19th century.

Until then, only nobility could afford and wanted to afford large tombs - and even they were often much more humble than what you see at Hietzing today. Under the rule of Emperor Joseph II towards the end of the 18th century, there was even a law released that the deceased of Vienna were to be buried in a bag - as plain as possible. This law was abolished only a little time later, and with the rise of an aristocratic middle class in the early 19th century, people started to compete in creating the fancier graves for their families.