Gedenkstätte der Anatomie

Human cadavers have played an important role in the study of medicine for centuries. While physicians and scientists have relied on these bodies for the advancement of medical knowledge, they haven’t always been treated with respect. Programs to donate your body to science are a relatively recent development, with the first formal donation programs emerging in the late 1960s. While making such a donation is a noble endeavor, it can be hard for friends and family as there is no final resting place for the remains. Wiener Zentralfriedhof, Vienna’s central cemetery, solved this issue using a large monument dedicated to these people. 

The memorial was built in 2009 and is shaped as a circular structure made up of straight wall segments. The walls are covered by hundreds of nameplates of those who gave their bodies to train future generations of doctors and offer a place for their loved ones to mourn them. 

While the memorial was intended to be simple and uniform, it has been transformed by the families through flowers, candles, various decorations, and even portraits near the nameplates. The place is rarely empty.