![]() ![]() With its nondescript copper design, his coffin contrasts remarkably with that of his parents. One of those children is the Empress’s eldest son, who became Emperor Joseph II (1741-1790). The same location houses many of her 16 children. The most impressive section is the Maria-Theresien-Gruft, a domed chamber dominated by a huge, complex sarcophagus for the Empress Maria Theresa (1717-1780) and Emperor Franz Stephan (1708-1765). W 2650 excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)Įmperor Karl VI (1685-1740) probably has the most impressive sarcophagus, only because of the quite wonderful crowned skulls and similar decorative motifs. (A woodcut of part of the crypt from 1878 Alois Greil (Artist) Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. They used silver and gold sparingly, not least because visitors would steal bits (humanity never ceases to disappoint.) Crypt “highlights” Lead, pewter, bronze or copper materials dominate. But take the time to look closely at the intricate decoration on some of the coffins. If you don’t linger, you’ll be finished in no more than 30 minutes. (If you want a more traditional crypt experience, try the Stephansdom cathedral catacombs, which includes a mass grave for plague victims.)Ī sense of sadness certainly hangs over everything inside: death as the ultimate leveller.ĭespite the wealth, fame, power (and expensive coffin), all that’s left is a body in a box to be stared at by visitors taking hurried snapshots before moving on to coffee and cake. The bright, clean surroundings do little, however, to counter the starkness of the place, with its bare walls and row upon row of large ornate sarcophagi. Prepare for disappointment if you expect a musty, dank, dark experience: the crypt contains a series of large, well-lit and airy chambers. Her, Elizabeth of Bavaria, empress of Austria, the famous “Sissi”.The Kapuzinergruft is a place of strange contrasts. He had reached the foot board and we looked at each other in silence for a very long time.” His hair was stuck by water on his blotchy face. I immediately noticed that his cloth were drenched, to the extent that he left puddles behind him. “In the meanwhile, the moon had risen and its luminosity was pouring through the window as I had not drawn the curtains, when I saw the door handle turning and the casement slowly open. Not without effort, I managed to sit on my bed and breath calmly. I was not dreaming, once again I could hear the water, could feel it filling my lungs…Then, after a moment, the water sensation, the sound, all that stopped. Suddenly I felt the sensation of drowning…I was hiccupping, suffocating, fighting to find air. And the sound grew, as if coming closer to me. “This sound, I had heard it so often while horse riding along the lake…Little by little, it appeared that it came not from the lake but from the inside of my room. Until it was replaced by another sound, just as familiar: that of waves breaking on the shore. ![]() Hence reassured, I paid no mind to the noise. It must be raining, I thought – as it was never surprising for this place and in this season – and the raindrops are falling on the dead leaves under my window. And suddenly, in the midst of this involuntary back-and-forth in my head, I thought I heard the monotone drip drop of water. “And so I remained laying during those solitary hours, overcome by thoughts, images and memories. I had gone to bed and could not find sleep, even though darkness engulfed my room, even though everything in the garden outside was calm and silent… ![]()
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