Museum

Bestattungs Museum

📍 Bestattungsmuseum, mortuary hall 2 basement, Vienna Central Cemetery, Vienna, Austria

1 photos

4.2/ 5.0

★★★★☆

Quick Facts

Location: Austria, Vienna
Category: Museum
Duration: 1-1.5 hours
Opening Hours: Monday Closed (Monday) · Tuesday Closed (Tuesday) · Wednesday 10:00-16:00 · Thursday 10:00-16:00 · Friday 10:00-16:00 · Saturday Closed (Saturday) · Sunday Closed (Sunday) · From the auf einen Blick page on bestattungsmuseum.at (checked 5 November 2026): the museum opens only on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 10:00-16:00, and the page states plainly that no tours run on those days; tours are available solely by prior booking for groups of 15 or more. The museum sits in the basement of Hajek hall 2 at the Vienna Central Cemetery, a building designed by Max Hegele and first used in 1907 as the mortuary for infectious cases, converted into a museum in 2014.
Ticket Price: Adult: Full price 9 euros · Student: Reduced 7 euros for people over 60, Wien-Karte holders, disabled visitors, apprentices, conscripts and civil servants, students up to 27 and qualifying groups · A guided tour with admission costs 18 euros per person, or 15 euros from 15 people. The museum is run by Bestattung Wien GmbH inside the Vienna Central Cemetery, whose own gates stay open on the same days.
Address: Bestattungsmuseum, mortuary hall 2 basement, Vienna Central Cemetery, Vienna, Austria
Coordinates: 48.1930, 16.3720

Introduction

Founded by Vienna's municipal funeral company in 1967 and relocated beside the Central Cemetery in 2014, the Funeral Museum uses roughly a thousand artefacts to trace the city's famously professional culture of death. Exhibits include a reusable coffin with a hinged floor from the era of Joseph II, bells and strings designed to guard against premature burial, and centuries of hearses, mourning dress and mourning jewellery. Vienna's dark humour about mortality is on full display, and the cemetery's tree-lined avenues make a fitting epilogue.

✨ Highlights

Reusable coffin

Joseph II's hinged-floor coffin, meant to save timber until public anger killed the scheme.

Safety coffins

Bells and cords tied to the dead record the nineteenth-century panic over premature burial.

Hearses and black

Gilded baroque coaches, mourning dress and jewellery trace changing funeral fashion.

Central Cemetery

The graves of Beethoven, Schubert and more lie a short walk from the exit.

🛈 Practical Info

→Address：By the Central Cemetery grounds along Simmeringer Hauptstraße in Vienna's eleventh district.

→Transport：U3 to Simmering, then tram 71; or the S-Bahn to the Zentralfriedhof station.

→Time needed：About an hour inside; budget three including the cemetery avenues.

→Best for：Curiosity seekers, photographers of the unusual, and pilgrims to composers' graves.

→Transportation：Trams 11 and 71 and buses ZF and 272 stop at Zentralfriedhof 2. Tor; the museum is in the basement of mortuary hall 2, which the site places 100 metres to the right of the cemetery main entrance.

Opening Hours

Opening Hours
Monday	Closed (Monday)
Tuesday	Closed (Tuesday)
Wednesday	10:00-16:00
Thursday	10:00-16:00
Friday	10:00-16:00
Saturday	Closed (Saturday)
Sunday	Closed (Sunday)

From the auf einen Blick page on bestattungsmuseum.at (checked 5 November 2026): the museum opens only on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 10:00-16:00, and the page states plainly that no tours run on those days; tours are available solely by prior booking for groups of 15 or more. The museum sits in the basement of Hajek hall 2 at the Vienna Central Cemetery, a building designed by Max Hegele and first used in 1907 as the mortuary for infectious cases, converted into a museum in 2014.

Ticket Information

Ticket Information
Adult	Full price 9 euros
Student	Reduced 7 euros for people over 60, Wien-Karte holders, disabled visitors, apprentices, conscripts and civil servants, students up to 27 and qualifying groups
Senior	Visitors over 60 pay the reduced 7 euros
Child	Free up to age 6, 3 euros for children aged 6 to 14 and 5 euros for those aged 14 to 19
Free Admission	School classes are charged per head at 6 euros for ages 6 to 14 and 12 euros for ages 14 to 19

A guided tour with admission costs 18 euros per person, or 15 euros from 15 people. The museum is run by Bestattung Wien GmbH inside the Vienna Central Cemetery, whose own gates stay open on the same days.

💡 Tips

• Locals joke that tram 71 is the 'express to heaven' — riding it is part of the experience.

• Some displays are blunt about death; walk through first if visiting with children.

• The cemetery is huge: grab a section map at the gate and mark your target graves.

• Autumn chestnut leaves and low morning sun make the cemetery avenues especially photogenic.

FAQ

What are the opening hours of Bestattungs Museum?

Monday: Closed (Monday); Tuesday: Closed (Tuesday); Wednesday: 10:00-16:00; Thursday: 10:00-16:00; Friday: 10:00-16:00; Saturday: Closed (Saturday); Sunday: Closed (Sunday); From the auf einen Blick page on bestattungsmuseum.at (checked 5 November 2026): the museum opens only on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 10:00-16:00, and the page states plainly that no tours run on those days; tours are available solely by prior booking for groups of 15 or more. The museum sits in the basement of Hajek hall 2 at the Vienna Central Cemetery, a building designed by Max Hegele and first used in 1907 as the mortuary for infectious cases, converted into a museum in 2014.

How much is the admission for Bestattungs Museum?

Adult: Full price 9 euros; Student: Reduced 7 euros for people over 60, Wien-Karte holders, disabled visitors, apprentices, conscripts and civil servants, students up to 27 and qualifying groups; Senior: Visitors over 60 pay the reduced 7 euros; Child: Free up to age 6, 3 euros for children aged 6 to 14 and 5 euros for those aged 14 to 19; Free Admission: School classes are charged per head at 6 euros for ages 6 to 14 and 12 euros for ages 14 to 19; A guided tour with admission costs 18 euros per person, or 15 euros from 15 people. The museum is run by Bestattung Wien GmbH inside the Vienna Central Cemetery, whose own gates stay open on the same days.

Any practical tips for visiting Bestattungs Museum?

Locals joke that tram 71 is the 'express to heaven' — riding it is part of the experience. Some displays are blunt about death; walk through first if visiting with children.

How long should I spend at Bestattungs Museum?

A typical visit takes 1-1.5 hours.

Details here follow bestattungsmuseum.at; hours, prices and access change with the season and events, so please check bestattungsmuseum.at before you go.