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Description
Crypts of the Viennese monarchs
From 1633, the Habsburgs were laid to rest in the crypt of the Church of the Capuchins. Each funeral was preceded by a belittling ritual consisting of the reigning emperor announcing his various titles to the waiting prior, who then proceeded to deny knowledge of his person and refuse him entry.
Finally, the emperor was forced to identify himself as 'a humble sinner who begs God's mercy' and the cortège would be granted permission to enter. Today, an admission fee and silence ('Silentium!' reads the inscription over the entrance) are all they ask. Many of these early tombs are decorated with skull and crossbones, weapons and bats' wings, that progressively increase in size until you reach the gigantic iron double tomb of Empress Maria Theresia and her husband, Franz Stephan. For sheer size and representational extravagance – above the tomb the couple appear to be sitting up in bed embroiled in a marital tiff – this has to be the highlight of the show. In stark contrast, their son Joseph II, whose reforms tried and failed to popularise the drop-bottom reusable coffin, lies in a simple copper casket. Further along is the New Vault, with its bizarre, diagonal concrete beams where Maximilian I of Mexico and Napoleon's second wife, Marie Louise, are to be found. Their son, the Duc de Reichstadt, was moved from here to Paris in 1940 by the Nazis in an attempt to ingratiate themselves with the French. People tend to dwell a little longer in the Franz-Josef Vault as here lie the Habsburgs who still touch hearts: Franz Josef I, the last emperor, his wife, the eternally popular Empress Elisabeth, and their son, the unhappy Prince Rudolph, of the Mayerling suicide pact. Sisi's tomb is invariably covered in flowers and small wreaths with ribbons in the colours of the Hungarian flag commemorating her sympathy for that country's national aspirations. The last room contains the remains of Empress Zita, who was buried with full pomp and ceremony in 1989, and a bust of her husband, Emperor Karl I, who died in exile in Madeira.
From 1633, the Habsburgs were laid to rest in the crypt of the Church of the Capuchins. Each funeral was preceded by a belittling ritual consisting of the reigning emperor announcing his various titles to the waiting prior, who then proceeded to deny knowledge of his person and refuse him entry.
Finally, the emperor was forced to identify himself as 'a humble sinner who begs God's mercy' and the cortège would be granted permission to enter. Today, an admission fee and silence ('Silentium!' reads the inscription over the entrance) are all they ask. Many of these early tombs are decorated with skull and crossbones, weapons and bats' wings, that progressively increase in size until you reach the gigantic iron double tomb of Empress Maria Theresia and her husband, Franz Stephan. For sheer size and representational extravagance – above the tomb the couple appear to be sitting up in bed embroiled in a marital tiff – this has to be the highlight of the show. In stark contrast, their son Joseph II, whose reforms tried and failed to popularise the drop-bottom reusable coffin, lies in a simple copper casket. Further along is the New Vault, with its bizarre, diagonal concrete beams where Maximilian I of Mexico and Napoleon's second wife, Marie Louise, are to be found. Their son, the Duc de Reichstadt, was moved from here to Paris in 1940 by the Nazis in an attempt to ingratiate themselves with the French. People tend to dwell a little longer in the Franz-Josef Vault as here lie the Habsburgs who still touch hearts: Franz Josef I, the last emperor, his wife, the eternally popular Empress Elisabeth, and their son, the unhappy Prince Rudolph, of the Mayerling suicide pact. Sisi's tomb is invariably covered in flowers and small wreaths with ribbons in the colours of the Hungarian flag commemorating her sympathy for that country's national aspirations. The last room contains the remains of Empress Zita, who was buried with full pomp and ceremony in 1989, and a bust of her husband, Emperor Karl I, who died in exile in Madeira.