Description of the attraction
The Imperial Crypt is the burial vault of the emperors of the Austrian Empire, Austria-Hungary and members of the House of Habsburgs. Located under the Church of the Capuchin Order. The tomb is located on the New Market Square, not far from the Hofburg imperial palace. Since 1633, it has been the main burial place for members of the Habsburg dynasty.
The crypt contains 145 members of the Habsburg family, including 12 emperors and 18 empresses. In addition to the Habsburg family, only one woman is buried here, who has nothing to do with the surname - the educator of Empress Maria Theresa, Countess Caroline F. Mollard. The oldest person buried in the imperial tomb is Archduke Otto, who died at the age of 98 years and 7 months. Several family members died at birth, and more than a quarter of those buried in the tomb were 5 years old or less when they died.
The last burial in the imperial tomb took place on July 16, 2011, when Crown Prince Otto von Habsburg was buried.
Free-standing sarcophagi are made of different materials. In the 18th century, the most widely used material for sarcophagi was bronze. After the reform of Emperor Joseph II, aimed at reducing the cost of burial, copper came into use as a more accessible and light material. In the imperial tomb, copper was used throughout most of the 19th century. Later, they began to use a mixture of copper casting and bronze, as well as a mixture of copper and silver. Other metals were rarely used, with the exception of silver and gilding for jewelry.
Some of the most beautiful crypts in the tomb are the crypts of Charles VI and Empress Maria Theresa (1758), created in the pompous Rococo style. The tomb of the son of Empress Maria Theresa - Joseph II, on the contrary, is one of the most modest of all.
