Imperial Crypt

The Kapuzinergruft under the Capuchin church has been the Habsburg burial place since 1633, and it holds around a hundred and fifty members of the family in pewter, copper and bronze sarcophagi ranged through a sequence of vaults, from plain boxes to enormous rococo tombs crawling with skulls, crowns and allegory - the double sarcophagus of Maria Theresa and Franz Stephan by Balthasar Moll being the largest. Habsburg practice divided the body: hearts went to the Augustinerkirche and entrails to the catacombs of the Stephansdom, so the crypt holds only part of each. Franz Joseph lies between Elisabeth and Rudolf. Burials continued after the monarchy - Zita in 1989 and Otto von Habsburg in 2011 - and the vault is still maintained by the Capuchin order.

History

Anna of Tyrol, wife of Emperor Matthias, planned a Capuchin friary and burial vault near the Hofburg and left money for it in her will of 10 November 1617; the foundation stone was laid on 8 September 1622, the church was dedicated on 25 July 1632, and at Easter 1633 the coffins of Matthias and Anna were moved with great ceremony into what is now the Founders Vault. Leopold I enlarged the crypt under the nave in 1657, Joseph I and Charles VI extended it further in 1710 and 1720, with Lukas von Hildebrandt the first well-known architect involved, and in 1754 Maria Theresa added a domed vault by Jean Jadot de Ville-Issey reaching into the friary garden, lit by daylight; Johann Aman built a further vault to the north in 1824, and when the friary was rebuilt in 1840 Johann Höhne added the Ferdinand and Tuscan vaults (Wikipedia, Imperial Crypt).

What to look for

• About 150 Habsburg tombs - metal sarcophagi from plain boxes to rococo monsters.
• The Maria Theresa double tomb - Moll's enormous sarcophagus at the centre.
• Franz Joseph, Elisabeth and Rudolf - the three together in the newer vault.
• A divided burial practice - bodies here, hearts and entrails in two other churches.

When to go

All year. An hour.

Things to know

It is a crypt - dim, cool and sombre, with photography restricted. It gets crowded and the route is one-way through narrow vaults. Some vaults close for restoration in rotation.

Nearby

The Neuer Markt is above; the Hofburg and Albertina are a few minutes away.

Key facts