Even from a distance, construction cranes are currently showing the way to the Matzlinsdorf Platz. The construction site of the U5 turns the junction into a bottleneck between the 5th and 10th district, which has to cross 35,000 vehicles. It produces noise, creates fine dust and produces urban hustle. And yet, if you step directly from the entrance to the Matzlinsdorf cemetery next to it, you will find yourself in a subdued environment, a green island in a maze of buildings, a biotope in the middle of the city.

Here other small sounds reach the ears of those seeking peace and quiet, with birdsong hymns of birds mingling, chirping of ravens and the rustling of the wind. Many of them are still leafless, but soon the green leaves of more than 500 trees will finely filter the dust, cool the environment around them and release moisture and oxygen, as the three-meter-thick ivy wall that the Triester Stray’s side is already running successfully.

A state that is not a coincidence, however. And who wants to be sustained through constant care and care. There is already a poster on the iron fence in the form of a program: “The cemetery is also the place to live”, another sign drawing attention to the fact that the grave must be decorated with living plants.

Here you stay in the hotel and the floor

“It is here, in this place, that we want to keep life high,” Pastor Dr. Together Michael Wolf, who at first glance may seem divisive. Integrated into the “Network Nature” project of the Vienna municipality, the cemetery as a living space is realized here in many aspects of a local recreation area.

The Pest Hotel, built by the apprentice cemetery gardener, birdhouse, nesting holes, a rescue shelter for the winter, which will be made even more comfortable for next year, should make it more palatable for residents to live. We have also thought of a wooden ladder to get out of the water points – so that no animals are in trouble.

All types of beetles, butterflies and many other insects, various species of birds, but also live among the plains and golden hamsters, squirrels, martens and even foxes. In addition, this year there will be three warriors that will be set up behind the Soviet war cemetery, including bee-friendly planting close to flight. The honey must be processed with a bee spinach and can be purchased at the cemetery’s nursery, Pastor Dr. Wolf, who regularly conducts recreational tours of the cemetery.

Bricks with lasting beauty

Pastor Wolf also allows viewing in the back yard, as attention is paid not only to biodiversity, but also to sustainability. For example, old bricks from abandoned grave sites are not disposed of, but are cleaned and reused. They find a new meaning in enclosures, for example, where they serve as water reservoirs, but also for decoration.

They are good to see, because ultimately, most of the bricks come from the work of former Dras “Zu Inzersdorff Winner Burge”, as put forward by architect Theophil Henson. They make striking red and yellow livery material made between 1858 and 1860 at the entrance to the cemetery, with Christ Church at the center.

It is not only aesthetically interesting that the church, in the Neo-Byzantine style, with its ornaments reflects a deep connection with nature in the interior and in such a way that it closes the cycle.

Information on tours guided by Pastor Drs. Michael Wolf can be found in the Parish Gazette.