Bill-Grah Park

The Bill-Grah-Park is a park in the Essling area of Vienna’s 22nd district, Donaustadt.It is named after the German jazz artist Bill Grah and is located in Essling’s historic core.

Bill-Grah-Park is around 3680 m2 in size and is bounded by Esslinger Hauptstraße, Gartenheimstraße, and Fatty-George-Gasse.Bill Grah Park Pond is located in the park’s mid-west region and is accessed through a boardwalk along a path.A water cycle exists to improve the oxygen supply of the pond’s creatures, the cascade of which is located on the northern bank.It descends down to the pond below from the level of the walkway at the park’s edge.There are also some park benches and an unfenced playground with some children’s play equipment.A saltet, which mostly served as a gathering spot for young people, was eventually demolished by unknown individuals following persistent vandalism in 2009. In 2010, a more durable, vandal-resistant variant with a green roof was released.

The Jazz Sculpture, which was unveiled on September 3, 2000, is located in the park’s western corner.The sculpture, which stands over three meters tall and weighs around eleven tons, was created on the initiative of jazz enthusiast Roman Kuntner by Leopold Grausam and apprentices from the stonemason’s workshop at Vienna’s cemeteries.It is enclosed by a flower bed and a modest fence and symbolizes the primary musical instruments used in jazz.

Bill Grah is remembered by a memorial stone on the sidewalk. A metal plaque offers a brief history of Grah as well as information about his musical career.

South of the park, on the opposite side of Esslinger Hauptstraße, lies Jazzpark Essling, another jazz venue in Essling.Since 2000, the Kulturfleckerl Essling association, which operates the Kulturstadl and the jazz museum Fatty George Jazzmus in the jazz park, has organized an annual maypole festival featuring jazz music, with a maypole constructed in Bill-Grah-Park.