VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — Hundreds of revellers flocked to Vienna’s Central Cemetery recently to attend a graveyard concert commemorating the famous site’s 150th birthday, doing justice to the local expression “Death must be a Viennese”.

The vast cemetery on the outskirts of the Austrian capital is Europe’s second largest, comprising around 330,000 graves spread out over 2.5 square kilometres (620 acres).

Tens of thousands of tourists as well as locals visit Central Cemetery each month to stroll along the tree-lined avenues and tombs of many famous figures.

As night fell Nino Mandl, a local singer-songwriter known as Nino from Vienna, performed the last of three “cemetery sessions” to celebrate the anniversary.

Marianne Kaufmann, a 69-year-old retiree, was among the 750 concertgoers who attended.

The Viennese have a “special relationship” with death, she told
AFP, as mourning was not necessarily considered “sad” but could include “laughing and singing” at funerals, since “life must go on”.

Conny Maehlich, 53, said she was excited about experiencing the unique atmosphere, though admitting that it felt “a little bit spooky” to attend a concert in a cemetery.