Since 1632 almost all Hapsburg royalty, including 12 emperors and 18 empresses, have been entombed in the Kaisergruft (Imperial Crypt) which lies beneath a Capuchin Church and Monastery. Some of their internal organs are in urns in other churches, mostly in the Augustina Church which is nearby. Gabe and I went to the crypt with our history class, though we could also have filed the trip under 'art history' as the style-changes of the sarcophagi roll with the times. The photo above is looking into the founder's vault with the two oldest sarcophagi (of Anna of Tyrol and Mattias). Maria-Theresia had an entire wing built for her family and pushed the crypt into the space under the garden of the monastery so that her room is the only with natural light. Notice the sharp contrast between she and her husband's (Emperor Franz I) double tomb built in the Baroque manner that her reign is known for and that of their son, Emperor Joseph II's (in the foreground below). Also, at her insistence, the life-long Nanny of her 16 children is entombed in the family room- the only non-Hapsburg in the entire crypt.
Maria-Theresia's domed ceiling.
Ceilings in the more recently built rooms.
I am going to have to ask Dr.Czermak which crowns these are. I think the left is Bohemia and the right is Croatia.
There is a story about the crypt that seems very important the the Austrians. There is a little ritual that happens when the Hapsburg's funeral procession reaches the door of the crypt. The herald knocks on the door. The monk asks, "Who requests entry?" The herald names the deceased with all of their titles (Empress of, Archduchess of, Queen of....sometimes 70 plus titles). The monk states, "We know her not." Then the herald knocks again. The monk asks, "Who requests entry?" This time the herald states the name with an abbreviated version of the titles and, again the monk states, "We know her not." After the third knock, the monk asks "Who requests entry" and the herald replies "(name), a sinful, mortal human being." This time the gates open and the Hapsburg is admitted.
On the way from the crypt to the Wien Museum (for AAA class) we stopped to admire this subway pavilion. Otto Wagner (the architect and urban planner of Vienna roughly ten years before and after the turn of the century) thought that the architecture of the Ringstrasse (more on that later), which was neo-everything, was a really bad move. He (along with Klimt and the other "Secessionists") asserted that only the NEW! is beneficial for a city. Thus, these art nouveau pavilions that I love!
I also just like this scene. The bike, the glass elevator, the U-bahn sign, the shoveled bike path and separate side-walk, the Wien Museum in the background. So Vienna-- whatever that means.
For class we only had time to do a small portion of the museum. We started with pre-Roman findings--carefully arranged bones buried with jewelry and pots with animal shapes (art!). Around 5th century BCE, there is a string of hill-top settlements along the Danube, one of which is at Leopoldsberg (just one hill away from Kahlenberg--remember the Polish King saying mass before swooping down on the Ottomans?) Then Roman times. Vienna was a Roman settlement called Vindobona. It was a militarty outpost, defending against those pesky Germanic tribes. The museum had perfume bottles, hand lamps, and crockery, but the coolest thing to me was a model of the heated houses! The Romans had raised floors and hollow walls so that houses could be heated by large external fires. Sub-floor heating, yes!
The museum's collection jumps from Roman times to Medieval, but we will fill that it in further classes.
The Medieval stuff is so fun. These decorated helmets and shields were used to advertise the families that came for the HRE Frederick III's funeral in 1493. I wish I knew where the families were from and why the certain symbols....
We were not talking about this time-period at all, but I couldn't resist a quick snap shot of Maria-Theresia---my Austrian namesake, mother of Marie-Antoinette and 15 more children! I keep saying that I have 17 here- but only one that may end up beheaded.
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