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Neustift Cemetery becomes a green community garden for Vienna!
Neustift cemetery in Döbling starts community garden project with field heroes; 10 beds for community and urban climate.
Neustift Cemetery becomes a green community garden for Vienna!
A new project is blooming in the heart of Vienna that strengthens the neighborhood and at the same time provides fresh vegetables. The cooperation between the Ackerhelden and the Viennese cemeteries has opened up shared gardening. The Neustift cemetery is now also located in the required space, where the first ten beds are available, offering citizens space to actively garden in their own vegetable patch. The starting signal for the new beds was given in May 2025 oe24 reported.
The idea behind this innovative garden project is simple: promote community and well-being. It's not just about growing fruit and vegetables, but also about the opportunity to make new acquaintances and support each other. The concept has proven successful since spring 2023 and gardeners can now be seen at work in the Central Cemetery and the Southwest Cemetery.
Gardening made easy
The ten beds in Neustift are each 24 square meters in size and are ideal for anyone with a green thumb or just an interest in gardening. “No basic knowledge of horticulture is required,” says Jan Pech, managing director of Ackerhelden. The offer provides gardeners with pre-planted organic vegetable crops that are easy to care for. And best of all: support is available in the form of care and harvesting tips as well as gardening tools, which are available directly on site.
An all-round, worry-free package, which is offered for participation at a price of 149 euros per year, is well received. In fact, around three quarters of the current gardeners have extended their contracts for 2025. Registrations are made via the digital portal “Digitale Grab”, which has been part of every grave complex since 2020. It should be noted that the beds can only be booked for people with a grave site at the Vienna Cemeteries.
A place for nature
The cemeteries take up around 1.2 percent of Vienna's entire area and therefore not only offer places of rest, but are also important for the city's climate and biodiversity. In the initiative Together.CARE. In addition to urban gardening, numerous other projects to promote nature and wildlife are integrated. This garden project also helps city residents to experience nature more consciously.
The new beds are in open meadows, meaning they were not created on or between graves. Here, care is taken to ensure that gardening takes place in harmony with the surroundings. The seeds used and the young plants are certified organic, which should be an additional incentive for many Austrians to grow their own food.
The project is more than just a standardized garden: it creates spaces for meetings, for exchanging tips and for gardening together in a pleasant atmosphere. Who knows, maybe there will be the first harvests to celebrate in a few months. Anyone who would like to try out gardening can use the online portal www.digitalesgrab.at Register and look forward to seeing the green thumbs among your neighbors!