“Death must be a Viennese”, claimed Viennese composer and satirist Georg Kreisler. His words seem to have hit a nerve. Vienna has, after all, had a very open relationship with human mortality for the past several hundred years. Where does this come from? From an age when death was omnipresent owing to diseases such as the plague: when facing mortality became a reminder to enjoy life all the more intensely. The Viennese certainly understand that there is life before death. And that is something to celebrate.

Thw Morbid Vienna Guide, which is available in the free ivie city guide app (iOS & Android), invites visitors to discover the shady side of Vienna at their own pace. This guide reveals that death in Vienna has artistic, quirky and occasionally very beautiful sides: Vienna is to die for, if you will.

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© Kapuzinergruft/Robert Vanis

Discover 9 locations

The Morbid Vienna Guides takes visitors to 10 locations that focus on Vienna’s morbid side and the city’s special relationship with death. These destinations include the Church of the Augustinian Friars, where the hearts of the Hapsburg monarchs were interred, while the magnificent Vienna Central Cemetery and the nearby Funeral Museum are likewise part of the Vienna Death Tour. The Capuchins’ Crypt and famous artworks such as Gustav Klimt’s “Death and Life” are also not to be overlooked.

There is something to interest the scientifically-minded too in the form of the pathological and anatomical collection at the Josephinum, where historical wax preparations and the file used to assassinate Empress Elisabeth, also known as Sisi, are exhibited.

• Capuchins’ Crypt
• Funeral Museum
• Central Cemetery
• Beethoven’s Grave
• Augustinian Church
• Leopold Museum
• Upper Belvedere
• Josephinum
• The Third Man Tour

How to access the Morbid Vienna Guide

1. Download ivie for free (iOS or Android)

2. Scan the QR code. You’re ready to go!

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ivie – your perfect Vienna companion

ivie knows the city like the back of its hand. After all, the app contains much more than just Vienna’s famous attractions such as Schönbrunn Palace, the Prater and Giant Ferris Wheel or even St. Stephen’s Cathedral. ivie also guides visitors to unusual museums and exciting architecture, through magnificent parks and wonderful markets and even to many locations that Viennese locals are not aware of but which are most certainly worth a visit. Hundreds of exciting locations are waiting to be discovered.

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