Studies on osteoarthritis of the knee have examined isolated aspects of the meniscus biomechanically and histologically, but not the difference between instantaneous modulus (IM) in healthy and diseased samples. We could examine the mechanical characterization of the viscoelasticity of arthritic menisci compared to arthritis-free menisci based on a complete indentation mapping test over the entire meniscus with subsequent correlation of the proteoglycan content. In contrast to most of the previous studies, a method for nondestructive automatic mapping of the biomechanical properties over the entire meniscus was performed. The investigations showed that in the final stage of osteoarthritis, the attenuation behavior of the meniscus was lower compared to the arthritis-free knee (up to 50% with respect to the posterior horn). This nondestructive automatic mapping method of the biomechanical properties of menisci showed that the posterior horn was in particular affected. The mapping of IM and histological examination of the meniscus showed a direct correlation between changes in proteoglycan content and altered mechanical properties of the meniscus under osteoarthritis.