The Imperial Crypt – Watch out, a foot!

One of a kind! More than 140 coffins and urns, 12 emperors and 19 empresses – the Habsburg burial site is a staged exploration of death, transience and the hope for eternal peace.

Magnificent funerary monuments tell of fates and tragedies, fascinating burial rituals and ceremonial practices. Impressively detailed reliefs on the coffins even depict dramatically staged battles – simplicity in design only emerged during the Biedermeier period. We’ll experience Baroque splendour, imperial aloofness and the quiet humility that is palpable when contemplating the coffins of Emperor Joseph II and his parents. Finely crafted children’s coffins bear witness to the high infant mortality rate of the time and the attempt to provide a gentle transition to the afterlife for the archdukes who died young.

A particularly fascinating chapter of the story revolves around Napoleon’s only son and the Nazi regime in 1940. Incredible events and memorable anecdotes make this tour truly captivating, offering insights into the turbulent history of Europe and its defining figures, both through and beyond death.

An architectural highlight of a different kind is the new crypt, created in the 1960s by Karl Schwanzer. Many important Habsburgs, such as the Emperor of Mexico and Henriette of Nassau, are buried in this section of the crypt. Also of interest in this context is the origin of the popular Christmas tree tradition.

P.S.: Beware, lest the Angel of Death stick out his foot and trip you up!