Ludwig van Beethoven had died on the 26th of March 1827 at the age of 56, in Vienna. Today his grave is in Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof cemetery (show map), grave no.29 in group 32a. This group is dedicated to famous composers, among others Schubert and Brahms. There is no charge to visit the cemetery.
Beethoven’s final residence was in the so called Schwarzspanierhaus, this is where he passed away. This house does not stand today, it was demolished in 1903. The new building has a plaque on the front marking the place for the eternity.
Poor Beethoven had three burials! First, he was buried couple of days after his death, in Vienna’s Währinger Ortsfriedhof cemetery. In 1863 authorities decided to remake his burial site. He had been exhumed and his remains were put in a metal coffin – then buried for the second time.
A few years later in 1873 this cemetery was shut down and eventually turned into a park in the 1920s. In 1888 he was exhumed again and moved to Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof, where a special area was dedicate to composers. This was the third and last time Beethoven was buried.
Before Schubert died as a last will he had asked to be buried next to his idol, Beethoven. This way – unlucky – Schubert had to follow Beethoven even in the grave…three times!
