Jewish cemeteries were usually located outside villages since for centuries it was made very difficult for Jews to purchase burial sites at all. Often they were given a piece of land far away from the village that had no other use anyway (swampy ground, steep hillsides, locations off limits for Christians, i.e. close to gallows etc.). Therefore the deceased often had to be transported over long distances to their graves.

In larger cities this circumstance has been obscured in the meantime, due to the intense expansion in the 19th century. Often enough in the course of history, Jewish cemeteries were moved “outside the gates of the city”. Lack of space required sometimes that several bodies had to be buried on top of one another. In this case, the Jewish religion demands a distance of at least 6 feet of ground, which led to high burial hills (e.g., the Jewish cemetery in Prague).

Jewish cemeteries are usually not in an obvious location and are partially surrounded by a wall. As a rule, the cemetery carries an inscription at the entrance. In Hebrew a cemetery is called “House of Life” (Bet HaChaim), “House of Eternity” (Bet HaOlam), “
Good Place

” (Makom tov) or “House of Graves” (Bet HaKevarot). The cemetery has no less meaning than the synagogue, which is shown by the fact that men wear their head covering when entering a cemetery as well. A cemetery is considered untouchable due to the required peace of the dead; it must not be changed or even removed.

Cemeteries in Austria

http://www.ikg-wien.at/static/etis/unter/html/re_index.htm