Johann Strauss ll

AKA:
The Waltz King
Birth Name:
Johann Baptist Strauss II
Birth Date:
October 25, 1825
Birth Place:
Vienna, Austria
Death Date:
June 3, 1899
Place of Death:
Johann Strauss Gasse 4, Wieden, Vienna, Austria
Age:
73
Cause of Death:
Pleuropneumonia
Cemetery Name:
Der Wiener Zentralfriedhof
Claim to Fame:
Music
Johann Strauss II (also referred to as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger) was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well as a renown violinist. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas and a ballet. In his lifetime, Strauss ll was known as "The Waltz King", and was largely responsible for the popularity of the waltz in Vienna during the 19th century. Some of Johann Strauss's most famous works include "The Blue Danube", "Kaiser-Walzer" (Emperor Waltz), "Tales from the Vienna Woods", "Frühlingsstimmen", and the "Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka". Among his operettas, Die Fledermaus and Der Zigeunerbaron are the best known. Strauss was the son of Johann Strauss I and his first wife Maria Anna Streim. Two younger brothers, Josef and Eduard Strauss, also became composers of light music, although they were never as well known as their brother.

Fun Facts

Most of the Strauss ll works that are performed today may once have existed in a slightly different form, as Eduard Strauss destroyed much of the original Strauss orchestral archives in a furnace factory in Vienna’s Mariahilf district in 1907. Eduard, then the only surviving brother of the three, took this drastic precaution after agreeing to a pact between himself and brother Josef that whoever outlived the other was to destroy their works. The measure was intended to prevent the Strauss family’s works from being claimed by another composer. This may also have been fueled by Strauss’s rivalry with another of Vienna’s popular waltz and march composers, Karl Michael Ziehrer.

Also lost to the ages, Eduard Strauss surprisingly wound up the Strauss Orchestra in February 1901 after concerts in 840 cities around the globe, and pawned the instruments. The orchestra’s last violins were destroyed in the firestorm of the Second World War.

Two museums in Vienna are dedicated to Johann Strauss II. His residence in the Praterstrasse, where he lived in the 1860s, is now part of the Vienna Museum. The Strauss Museum is about the whole family, with a focus on Johann Strauss II.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Der Wiener Zentralfriedhof

1110 Wien

Simmeringer Hauptstraße 234, Vienna,

Austria

Europe

Map:

Map of der Wiener Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Austria
Map of der Wiener Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Austria

Grave Location:

Gruppe 32 A, Grab Nr. 27

Grave Location Description

You can find the grave very easily if you enter the cemetery through that main entrance, which is called Tor (Gate) 2. Once inside, go straight on, through the middle of the stone arcade ahead of you, towards the large Jugendstil church in the distance. Just keep your eyes on the left hand side to eventually spot the grave of the legendary composer about 100 feet off the road. Nearby neighbors include Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms. Across the paved path is a memorial to some guy named Mozart.

Grave Location GPS

48.1519419, 16.4398676

Visiting The Grave:

Photos:

[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]

Read More About Johann Strauss ll:

Videos Featuring Johann Strauss ll:

See More:

Townes Van Zandt

popular name: Townes Van Zandt

date_of_death: January 1, 1997

age: 52

cause_of_death: Heart attack due to chronic alcohol abuse

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: He was a reckless drunk and a hopeless idealist, but he is considered by many the greatest Texas songwriter of his generation. He wrote numerous songs, such as "Pancho and Lefty", "For the Sake of the Song", "Tecumseh Valley", "Rex's Blues", and "To Live Is to Fly", that are widely considered masterpieces of American songwriting. His musical style has often been described as melancholy and features rich, poetic lyrics. During his early years, Van Zandt was respected for his guitar playing and fingerpicking ability.

Guitar Slim

popular name: Guitar Slim

date_of_death: February 7, 1959

age: 32

cause_of_death: Bronchial pneumonia

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: In the 1950s, no blues guitarist even came close to equaling the flamboyant Guitar Slim on stage. A masterful guitarist who pioneered the use of the distorted guitar solo, Slim would appear on stage resplendent in a blue suit, blue shoes, blue hair and about 350 feet of microphone cord that allowed his valet to carry him on his shoulders and out into the street during a performance. His greatest hit came with the million-selling song "The Things That I Used to Do", produced by Johnny Vincent for Specialty Records. It is listed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2007.

Sonny Boy Williamson II

popular name: Sonny Boy Williamson II

date_of_death: May 24, 1965

age: 52

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Sonny Boy Williamson II was one of the most influential harmonica players in blues history. Often compared to Little Walter and John Lee Williamson (aka Sonny Boy Williamson I), Sonny Boy Williamson II was a legendary blues character whose colorful personality, superb musicianship, unpredictable actions and frequent stretching of the truth only served to enliven his blues with a warm eccentricity. He first recorded with Elmore James on "Dust My Broom". Some of his popular songs include "Don't Start Me Talkin'", "Help Me", "Checkin' Up on My Baby", and "Bring It On Home". He toured Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival and recorded with English rock musicians, including the Yardbirds, the Animals. "Help Me" became a blues standard, and many blues and rock artists have recorded his songs.

Back to Top