This guide is targeted at selected personalities who were buried in Central Cemetery of Brno City. The text is published within the scope of a project which is mapping the last resting places of personalities who were connected with history of the capital of Moravia. Its digital form is available online on http://hrbitovy.brno.cz/.

History of Central Cemetery

Brno Central Cemetery was built at the Vídeňská Street according to a project by architect Alois Prastorfer, who also is author of administrative buildings near the main entrance and near the side entrance from the Jihlavská Street. The opening ceremony took place on November 3, 1883. Now the cemetery counts among the largest in the Czech Republic. It served from the beginning as a burial place for all, regardless of religion, social status, nationality or race.

The present-day mourning hall near the main gate was built according to a project by architects Bohuslav Fuchs and Josef Polášek and it was opened on April 3, 1927. The elegant building in early constructivist style is now a protected monument. The crematorium in the upper part of the cemetery at the Jihlavská Street, which was built according to a project by architect Ernst Wiesner in functionalist style, was declared a National Cultural Monument. The first funeral ceremony took place here on April 8, 1930.

The crematorium is supplemented with urn groves, scattering meadows and ash burial meadows, columbaria.

Some groups of graves have a special position. Among them mainly are the so-called honorary burial grounds, where significant personalities are laid to rest. It is for example the group 25e (also referred to as the “Circle of Honour”), groups H5 and H5e (so-called Alley of Honour), and in the cemetery area we also find individual graves of honour. Also distinguished is the position of military burial grounds (groups 47, 49, 56, 66, 79), where the remains of military personnel are buried. These graves are maintained according to requirements of Geneva Conventions for military graves.

The cemetery is not only the last resting place of buried persons, but also a gallery of artistically valuable gravestones from famous sculptors or well-known stonemason’s workshops. Such gravestones are entered in the State Register of Immovable Cultural Monuments.

An integral part of the cemetery is greenery, which has been intentionally cultivated since the founding of the cemetery with the aim to change the place of grief into a place of serenity and hope.